PROVIDENCE — Ross Mauermann factored in on all of the Friars offense with two goals and an assist as No. 3 Providence outlasted No.18 Boston University, 3-1.
Jon Gillies allowed the first goal of the game, but made 28 saves in the winning effort. Terriers netminder Sean Maguire allowed two goals and turned aside 33 shots in the loss.
BU coach David Quinn summed up the weekend versus the Friars simply, saying, “It was a typical Hockey East weekend. It was a hard-fought game; there was not a lot of space out there. You knew there was going to be good goaltending. They got a bounce because they went to the net a little more than we did.”
The only name to reach the score sheet in the first period was BU freshman Brandon Collier. His elbowing penalty with 1:16 remaining in the frame proved to be the only significant event.
The mites that took the ice as entertainment between the first and second periods were able to produce more offense than the Terriers and Friars could in the first.
The second proved to be much the same, as the goaltenders kept each team in the game with impressive saves. Gillies’ luck ran out 15:08 into the period when BU sophomore Ahti Oksanen beat him with a one-timer on a power play. Freshman Nick Roberto and sophomore Danny O’Regan recorded the assists on Oksanen’s second of the season.
With the Friars on a power play late in the period, the Terriers were whistled for a penalty to give the Friars an abbreviated two-man advantage. Providence coach Nate Leaman utilized his timeout to draw up a play for the faceoff. Just six seconds into the two-man advantage, Derek Army lifted a rebound over a sprawled Maguire from the bottom of the left circle for his second of the year.
Mauermann proved in the third period that he was not happy with just an assist for the game.
He scored the go-ahead goal 3:28 into the third, a goal that proved to be the game-winner. He took a pass from Drew Brown, drove down the left wing, cut to the middle, and jammed the puck through the pads of Maguire for his sixth of the season.
Mauermann credits Leaman for giving him the opportunity to make plays.
“Coach has put me in a lot of situations and I am just trying to make the most of it. I have been working hard in practice to make it happen out there in games.”
Just 36 seconds after the goal, Mauermann was whistled for cross-checking a BU player.
The goaltending held the score at 2-1 through the third period. With 1:47 remaining, BU called a timeout, hoping for a similar response to that of Leaman in the second period. With the net empty, PC gained possession of the puck and skated it to the neutral zone. Shane Luke slid the puck into an open space on the ice and Mauermann skated onto the puck and put it into the net for a 3-1 lead.
Providence coach Leaman said of his center’s play after the game, “He carried us a little tonight … he has seven goals in seven games and has obviously taken a big step in his play. He is a worker. He has great speed and works hard, and that allows him to produce at both ends of the ice. He is our spark plug.”
