COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The No. 7 men's hockey team used a five-goal second period to pull away from Colorado College en route to a 7-2 win at the World Arena (7,276) on Saturday night.
Noel Acciari (Johnston, R.I.) led the offense with a goal and two assists as seven different Friars scored goals. Brandon Tanev (Toronto, Ontario) also had a multi-point night with a goal and an assist and Shane Luke (Dauphin, Manitoba) scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Providence improved to 14-5-5 (6-4-1 HEA) with the win, while Colorado College moved to 2-16-4 (2-7-3-1 NCHC).
In net, Jon Gillies (South Portland, Maine) finished with 28 saves for the Friars, while Josh Thorimbert made 10 saves and Courtney Lockwood made seven stops for the Tigers.
The Friars opened the scoring just 1:09 into the game when Tanev connected on a one-timer from a Derek Army (North Kingstown, R.I.) feed from the low slot for his third goal of the season. Kevin Rooney (Canton, Mass.) also assisted on the goal as he played the puck deep into the zone where Army picked it up on the fore-check.
After two unsuccessful power-play opportunities, the Tigers tied it at 11:17 of the opening frame with an even strength goal by Alexander Krushelnyski, his second in as many nights against the Friars. Alex Roos possessed the puck at the Providence blue and slid it to an open Krushelnyski in the high slot, who then netted his seventh goal of the season.
Providence came out aggressively in the second period and it paid off as they turned forced turnovers into two quick goals. Conor MacPhee (Windham, N.H.) put the Friars up 2-1 at 2:29 when he took the puck away from a Colorado College player at Providence's offensive blue line and turned and skated down the slot. MacPhee then froze Thorimbert with the threat of a pass and fired a wrist shot high for his third goal of the season.
Just 1:29 later, Stefan Demopoulos (La Mesa, Calif.) forced a turnover down low, made a quick pass to Luke at the bottom of the near circle. Luke then fired high glove side for his eighth goal of the season to push the Friar lead to 3-1.
Then the Friar power play came to life on its first chance of the night. With Colorado College's Jaccob Slavin in the box following a five minute major, Acciari and John Gilmour (Toronto, Ontario) netted power-play goals to extend the Friar lead to 5-1.
Acciari netted his eighth goal of the year when he slammed home a rebound in front following Thorimbert's save on a Tanev shot, who earned an assist on the play along with Kyle McKenzie (Aston, Pa.).
Gilmour chased Thorimbert from the game when his drive from above the top of the far faceoff circle found the back of his net for his third goal of the year. Gilmour's finish came after some nice passing by the Friars that included assists by Steven Shamanski (Carberry, Manitoba) and Trevor Mingoia (Fairport, N.Y.).
Providence made it 6-1 when Drew Brown (Grass Lake, Mich.) tipped a cross-ice feed from Acciari high past new Tiger goaltender Lockwood at 14:01 of the second. Tom Parisi (Commack, N.Y.) also assisted on the play.
The Tigers got one back at 15:56 of the second to make it 6-2 on Roos' finish from just outside the crease. Sam Rothstein fed Roos from below the goal line after getting on the end of a Krushelnyski dump in.
After killing off a Colorado College power play to start the third, Kevin Hart (Cumberland, Maine) played a long pass into the offensive zone for Acciari, who had just left the penalty box. Acciari gained possession and setup behind the Tigers' net before sending a pass to the slot where Nick Saracino (St. Louis, Mo.) fired home his fourth of the season at 2:11. Saracino's tally finished off the scoring for the night.
Providence finished 2-for-5 with the man advantage, while Colorado College was 0-for-6 on the power play.
The Friars return to Hockey East play next weekend with a home-and-home series against 10th-ranked UMass-Lowell, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. game on Friday, Jan. 24 at Schneider Arena. The game will be televised locally by CoxSports on OSN.
Notes
With seven goals, the Friars turned in their best offensive output since posting a 10-4 home win over AIC on Oct. 19 ... Seven different Friars scored goals and 15 Friars had at least one point ... Shane Luke scored his fourth game-winning goal of the season, tying Ross Mauermann for the team lead ... Mauermann skated in his 100th career game (has played in every game of his Friar career) ... Providence is now 8-1-4 in non-conference play this season ... With Head Coach Nate Leaman home in Rhode Island awaiting the birth of his third child, assistant coaches Jamie Russell and Ben Barr led the Friars.