ORONO- In what was a homecoming of sorts for the #17 Maine men’s hockey team, #9 Providence College would spoil the party in stunning fashion on Saturday night. The Friars scored a late extra attacker goal in the final seconds of the third period to tie it, and then would notch a game winner in overtime for a 3-2 victory at Alfond Arena in front of a sellout crowd of 4,980.
The Black Bears, who hadn’t played at home since a December 14th win over Lindenwood, would get things started at 4:45 of the first period. Off a faceoff win, the puck was chipped ahead to Justin Poirier who skated into the offensive zone and into the left faceoff circle before firing a quick wristshot over the glove of Friars goaltender Jack Parsons for a 1-0 lead. PC had the answer to tie it 1-1 at 9:01, as Alex Rybakov slid one in between the pads of Mathis Rousseau on a rebound of a point shot by Tomas Machu. Maine would take the lead back at 16:47 on a pretty goal by Loic Usereau. He got his first shot denied, but would gather his own rebound took it out near the high point and was able to keep control into the slot and released a backhander while bouncing off a body check that beat Parsons five-hole.
Maine was able to almost hold that lead for the remainder of the contest, while both teams still had some good chances. Rousseau would make several Grade A saves especially in the second period, and on one Providence opportunity he stopped an initial shot on a breakaway for the Friars and another one he got a piece of on a rebound. Neither team was able to connect on any powerplay chances, and late in the game with 51 seconds left the guests would pull Parsons for an extra attacker. PC nearly tied it by stuffing it in near the Black Bears crease in the final seconds but was turned away by Rousseau. They would keep the play alive however, and Roger McQueen would find Andrew Centrella alone in the left circle and the junior defenseman would find the equalizer with a shot inside the far post with 5.6 seconds left to send it to overtime. Maine came up empty on the few good looks they had in the extra session, while the Friars would connect on their best chance to extend their win streak to seven. Tanner Adams skated into the zone and dropped it off to Logan Sawyer, and Sawyer carried it into the circle and beat Rousseau short side with a missile up under the crossbar at 3:24 for what ended up being their only lead of the night and would end it.
Sawyer had one goal and one assist for Providence, while McQueen had two assists. Parsons made 23 saves, while the Friars went 0-4 on the powerplay. They improve their record to 16-7-2 and 11-3-1 in Hockey East. Brandon Chabrier, Thomas Freel, Max Scott, and Thomas Pichette had one assist each in the Maine loss. Rousseau stopped 20 shots, while the Black Bears went 0-3 on the powerplay (1 for their last 17) in falling to 14-10-2 and back to .500 in conference play at 8-8-0. Maine is back on the road on Friday night when they travel to Boston University to take on the Terriers for a single weekend game at 7 p.m.
