Four first-period goals led Providence (10-6-1) to a 7-1 win over Colgate (10-3-3) in the first round of the Providence College Holiday Tournament at PC’s Schneider Arena Wednesday.
Providence’s first goal came 11:35 into the first period when junior Tony Zancanaro’s deflection hit the underside of the crossbar and fell into the net. Sophomore Trevor Ludwig registered an assist on the play, his second of the year.
The Friars struck again just over two minutes later when freshman Pierce Norton sent a pass to junior Bryan Horan, who found freshman Cody Wild in front of the net. Wild sent the puck past Colgate goalie Mark Dekanich for his fourth goal of the season.
Just 20 seconds later, PC junior Chase Watson got the puck to freshman Marc Bastarache, who blasted a shot from the blueline. Senior Torry Gajda tipped in the shot to extend his career-high scoring streak to five games. Junior Dinos Stamoulis rounded out the first-period scoring at the 18:26 mark when he netted his third goal of the season with assists to Gajda and Watson.
The Friars continued their tear in the second period when Wild fired a shot on goal that was stopped, but netted a second later as freshman Nick Mazzolini wrapped the rebound around Dekanich for his third goal of the season.
That spelled the end of the game for Dekanich as Justin Kowalkoski entered the contest in goal for Colgate. Coming into the evening, Dekanich had been seventh in the nation with a 1.96 goals against average.
With 1:09 left in the second period, Colgate’s Mike Campaner was called for interference, leaving the Raiders shorthanded for the fourth time in the game. Seconds later, the Raiders’ Eric Main received a two-minute penalty for obstruction-holding, putting the Friars on a five-on-three that continued into the third period.
In the opening moments of the third, Kowalkoski lost his stick and was forced to make a diving save on a shot by junior Colin McDonald. Providence sophomore John Rheault lifted the puck over the stickless Kowalkoski 1:10 into the period. McDonald and Watson were credited with assists on the goal.
Colgate responded exactly seven minutes later to end the PC shutout bid. Ben Camper scored the lone Raider goal of the game with assists to Zac Tataryn and Marc Fulton.
Zancanaro scored the game’s final goal with 2:13 remaining in the contest when he netted a pass from Gajda through Rheault.
The seven goals by Providence were the Friars’ most since a 7-1 victory against Quinnipiac on Jan. 2, 2004. In all, 12 different players registered a point for Providence, which won its fourth straight and will play Sacred Heart (9-6-1) in the championship at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The Pioneers knocked off Brown (2-9-1) 5-1 earlier in the day Wednesday.
