Men's Hockey Edged At Merrimack 1-0

Nov. 8, 2014

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - The No. 10/12 Providence College men's hockey team was edged at Merrimack, 1-0, on Saturday night at the Lawler Rink (2,549) as Brian Christie's third period goal was the difference. Warrior goaltender Rasmus Tirronen made 22 saves to post the shutout, while Jon Gillies (South Portland, Maine) stopped 33 shots in what proved to be a goaltending duel.

The Providence (3-4-1, 2-2-0 HEA) penalty kill went 7-for-7, while the Merrimack's (6-2-1, 2-1-0 HEA) penalty kill was 6-for-6 in a game that included 16 penalties.

Neither team could find the back of the net in the first period, though there were five power plays in the stanza. Providence's best looks came down low from Ross Mauermann (Janesville, Wis.) and Trevor Mingoia (Fairport, N.Y.), but Tirronen made eight saves to keep the Friars off the board. At the other end, Gillies turned in 12 stops in the first, including a partial breakaway by Christie while the Warriors were on the power play.

Tirronen and Gillies were able to keep the score knotted at 0-0 through the second period as well. While skating shorthanded, Brandon Tanev (Toronto, Ontario) and Mauermann combined for one of Providence's best scoring chances when Tanev set Mauermann up in the slot, but Mauermann was taken down from behind, drawing a Merrimack a penalty, before getting a clean shot off.

Merrimack broke the tie at 9:57 of the third when Craig Wyszomirski picked up a loose puck along the boards while the teams were skating four-on-four and hit Christie in the slot, who netted his fourth goal of the season with a quick wrist shot.

With just over five minutes left, Tirronen kept the Warriors in front when he made a nice glove save on Nick Saracino (St. Louis, Mo.) from the slot after Saracino fired a wrist shot low, glove side from the top of the circles.

With 50 seconds left, Gillies was pulled in favor of the extra attacker and Providence skated with a 6-on-4 advantage as Merrimack's Kyle Singleton had been called for a five-minute major at 15:37, but Tirronen and Merrimack held on for the win.

Providence continues with Hockey East play next weekend when it hosts to No. 14/15 Vermont for a pair of games beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14. Both Friday and Saturday's (Nov. 15) games will be televised locally on CoxSports on OSN.

Notes
Seven of the last eight meetings between Merrimack and Providence have now been decided by one goal or ended in a tie (also includes three overtime games) ... Jon Gillies is now 2-2-1 over the last five games with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage ... Brian Pinho played in his hometown of North Andover, Mass.

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Players Mentioned

Jon Gillies

Ross Mauermann

Trevor Mingoia

Brian Pinho

Nick Saracino

Brandon Tanev

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