by The Cowl Editor on November 3, 2017
Friar Sports
By Sam Scanlon ’19
Sports Staff
After a weekend in Upstate New York where the Friars grabbed one win and were handed a loss against St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University respectively, the Providence College Men’s Hockey Team returned home to Schneider Arena to face two nationally ranked Hockey East powerhouses.
Friday night brought the Eagles of Boston College back to Schneider Arena just 12 days after handing the Friars their first loss of the season with a stunning 4-3 overtime win. This time around, however, it would be the Friars who sealed a comeback win.
The 19th ranked Eagles would jump out to a first period lead on a rebound goal that they would ultimately take into the first intermission.Midway through the second period, Friars’ sniper Erik Foley ’19 scored a gorgeous goal over the shoulder of Eagles’ goaltender Joseph Woll.
Later in the period, Ben Mirageas ’21 tallied his first collegiate goal on a shot from the point. The New York Islanders third round draft pick is a smooth skating, playmaking defenseman who is dominant on both sides of the puck. Friar fans should be excited for his career here at PC and expect more offensive production from the freshman. His goal stood as the game-winner as the Friars held on to win 2-1.
Coming off a hard fought win against a Hockey East rival the previous night, the Friars were back at it again on Saturday night as they welcomed in Boston University. This game was an absolute dog fight.
The Terriers came into the game ranked sixth in the country, as they are loaded with offensive weaponry, some decent size, and arguably the best goaltender in the country. Despite all that, the Friars remained resilient and kept up with the speedy, talented Terriers squad.
After a scoreless first period, it did not take long for Vimal Sukumaran ’20 to take advantage of a BU miscue and bury the puck into an open net early in the second period. After a string of penalties, Foley notched his second goal of the weekend, beating the Terriers’ goalie to give the Friars a 2-0 advantage. Under a minute later, Brandon Duhaime ’20 found a way to sneak the puck across the goal line to extend the Friars’ lead to 3-0. Tensions would begin to rise and reach a breaking point in the second frame, culminating with a large scrap between everyone on the ice as the second period clock ran out. What else would you expect when these two teams face off?
The Friars shut down any shot of a third period Terriers’ comeback and held on to the shutout, completing a sweep of two of the toughest opponents in the Hockey East.
Even with Foley scoring two huge goals, the story of this weekend was undoubtedly goaltender Hayden Hawkey ’19. Hawkey stopped 46 of 47 shots this weekend, with that one blemish coming from a rebound goal in the first period of Friday night’s bout against the Eagles. A quick turnaround and a shut out of a top team in the country, stopping all 22 Terriers’ shots, would give Hawkey his fifth career shutout, and the first time Providence College has blanked the Terriers since a 2004 meeting. Needless to say, this massive weekend from Hawkey was the extra boost the Friars needed to pick up wins in these two games. His performance rightfully earned him Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors.
The Friars have now jumped up to be the sixth ranked team in the nation and are looking forward to a huge rematch at Agganis Arena this Friday to take on the Terriers once again in a crucial Hockey East tilt.