PC Hockey Faces Omaha in NCAA Frozen Four Tonight in Boston
Thursday, April 09, 2015
The Providence College Friars men's hockey team is set to compete in their first NCAA Frozen Four since 1985, The Friars will take on the Omaha Mavericks today at 5 p.m. at the TD Garden in Boston.
Providence
The Friars finished the reason with a 24-13-2 record, including a 13-8 record in Hockey East.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTProvidence got to the Frozen Four by defeating Miami (Ohio) 7-5, and then Denver, 4-1, in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
This year, Providence has been led by Noel Acciari and Trevor Mingola who each netted 14 goals on the season while Nick Saracino and Shane Luke followed up with 13 goals.
Jon Gillies, a draft pick of the NHL's Calgary Flames, is the man between he pipes for PC having started all 37 games this year and winning 22 of them. Gillies comes into the Frozen Four with a goals against average of two.
The Friars are coached by Nate Leaman, who is in his fourth season with PC and is responsible for getting the Friars back on the national stage. Last season, Leaman got the Friars back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001 and got the program's first NCAA Tournament win since 1991.
Providence is poised to get to the National Championship game for the fist time since the magical year of 1985.
Omaha Mavericks
The Omaha Mavericks are making their first ever Frozen Four appearance after not being able to get out of the first round in their two previous NCAA Tournament appearances. Omaha finished the season with a 20-12-6 record, their second straight 20 win season.
The Mavericks are coached by Dean Blais, a former assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic team and the gold medal winning U.S. Junior Team in 2010 when they beat Canada in Canada.
Led by Blais, the Mavericks have wins over Minnesota St., Minnesota Duluth, and two wins over Denver.
The Mavericks are led by Austin Ortega who led the team with 20 goals this season, 11 of which were game winners.
Jake Guentzel and Justin Parlzek follow up with 13 goals each.
Ryan Massa leads Omaha between the pipes, having stated 27 of the 28 games he played this season. Massa comes in to the Frozen Four with a goals against averaged of 1.92.
Frozen Four
The Friars are in the Frozen Four for the first time since 1985 while Omaha is in the Frozen Four for the first time ever.
Puck drop is set for 5 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN2.
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