Terriers Edge Providence, 3-2, In Hockey East Opener
October 22, 2004 | Men's Ice Hockey
BOSTON, MA-The Boston University hockey team jumped to a 3-0 lead by the 4:07 mark of the third period and then had to hold on for a 3-2 win over Providence College in front of a crowd of 3806 at the Terriers' Walter Brown Arena.
It was the Hockey East opener for the Terriers who are now 2-2 overall, while the Friars, who had won their first two decisions this season, are now 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the league.
Among the sellout crowd were some of the great names of Terrier hockey-legendary coach Jack Kelley, who coached the Terriers to back-to-back national championships in 1971 and 1972, and one of his top players of the late Sixties was current Terrier coach Jack Parker. Former players who were also on hand included 1998 Hobey Baker winner Chris Drury, Jay Pandolfo, Mike Grier, Shawn McEachern, Shawn Bates, Rick DiPietro, Chris O'Sullivan, Scott Lachance, and Scott Young.
They all returned for this Sunday's alumni-varsity exhibition game that will benefit the Travis Roy and Mark Bavis Leadership Foundations.
They couldn't help but like what they saw from the current crop of Terriers that included five freshmen forwards and a freshman defenseman who played and a freshman goalie that dressed.
At least they liked what they saw through the first 44:07 of action as B.U. took the three-goal lead.
Over the last 15:53 of action, though, the edge went to the Friars who scored a pair of unanswered goals, but it was not enough to offset B.U.'s start.
Brad Zancanaro opened the scoring for the Terriers at 18:26 of the opening period with assists to Bryan Miller and goalie John Curry. B.U. dominated play, outshooting the Friars, 13-5, but PC goalie David Cacciola stopped 12 of those shots.
It marked the only even-strength goal of the game, as each team scored twice on their power play.
As was the case in the opening period, the Terriers controlled the second period, outshooting the Friars, 18-9, but could score just once. That came on the power play when freshman Peter MacArthur slipped the puck past Cacciola at the 6:15 mark. John Laliberte and Brian Ewing earned the assists.
MacArthur and Zancanaro then picked up assists on the power play goal by Jekabs Redlihs at 4:07 of the final period.
It was then the Friars' chance to get on the scoreboard. First, it was Chris Chaput, with assists to Torry Gajda and James Pemberton at 7:31 and then it was Colin McDonald, with help from Chaput and Pemberton at 14:42.
Curry earned his second collegiate win with 22 saves to go along with his assist, while Cacciola had 34 saves in the losing effort.
"I thought we played well in most phases of the game," said Jack Parker, who notched his 694th career win. "I like the way we moved the puck and defended.
"In the third period, I thought we just got out of step," continued Parker. "I thought both goaltenders played well. We just got more pucks by them than they got by us."
"They took it to us in the first two periods, and we took it to them in the third period," said Friar coach Paul Pooley. "We just fell short. We played with energy but we took too many penalties."
The Friars were assessed 14 minors for 28 minutes, while the Terriers were whistled for 12 infractions for 24 minutes.
