BOSTON, Mass. - The No. 4/5 ranked Providence College men's hockey team skated to 1-1 overtime tie against Merrimack in non-conference game at Fenway Park on Saturday, Jan. 4 as part of Citi Frozen Fenway 2014.
After two scoreless periods both teams tallied a goal in the third period. Merrimack (4-9-3, 1-5-2 HEA) struck first when Mike Collin connected at 7:23. Providence College senior captain Steven Shamanski(Carberry, Manitoba) tied the game at 9:49 on a highlight reel goal.
Freshman goaltender Nick Ellis(Millersville, Md.) finished with a career-high 30 saves, while Rasmus Tirronen made 32 stops for Merrimack.
With tonight's non-conference tie, the Friars (13-3-4, 6-2-1 HEA) are unbeaten on the season against Merrimack (2-0-1). Providence improved to 7-1-3 in non-conference games this season.
The action picked up in the second period as the teams continued to battled back-and-fourth. At the 18:46 a tripping penalty was called on Kevin Hartto give Merrimack's Connor Toomey a penalty shot. Toomey missed the shot wide as Ellis came out to cut down the angle at the top of his crease.
In the third period Merrimack had a four-on-three advantage at the 6:28 mark when Collins scored a power play goal to give Merrimack a 1-0 lead. The goal was assisted by Brendan Ellis and Vinny Scotti.
Providence retaliated 2:25 later as Shamanski scored his fourth goal of the season, when he deked past Merrimack goaltender Rasmus Tirronen from behind the end line. Sophomore John Gilmour (Montreal, Quebec) and red-shirt sophomore Trevor Mingoia(Fairport, N.Y.) assisted on the play.
Providence went on the power play with 2:35 remaining in the third but went scoreless in the stanza. Merrimack had another four-on-three advantage with 18.2 seconds left in regulation and came up blank to send the game into overtime.
Merrimack opened the overtime still on a power play. Both teams returned to full strength with no score change. Providence recorded all three shots that were taken in the extra period.
The Friars were one-for-five on the power play and the Warriors were one-for-four.
Providence's next game will be a home match-up at Schneider Arena against Hockey East opponent No. 17 Northeastern on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. The Friars battled to a 3-3 tie in their last meeting against the Huskies on Dec. 6.
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