The PC Friars Win The National Championship!
Sunday, April 12, 2015
For the first time in program history, the Providence College Friars have won the NCAA hockey National Championship! The Friars defeated Hockey East rival Boston University 4-3 on Saturday night at the TD Garden in Boston.
Comeback Completed
With the game tied at three, PC's Brandon Tanev took the puck off a PC face off win and fired a shot top shelf from the slot that beat O'Connor giving the Friars a 4-3 lead with 5:30 seconds left. BU pulled their goaltender with a little more than a minute left and had one golden chance to tie the game but PC goaltender Jon Gillies came up huge.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFor his efforts, 49 saves on 52 BU shots, Gillies was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
With BU up 3-2 in the third, BU goaltender Matt O'Connor miss handled a routine Kyle McKenzie dump in as he dropped the puck and it trickled over the goal line and into the net to tie the game at three.
Trading Goals in the 2nd
With the game tied at two, Bu's Cason Hohman scored off a BU offensive zone face off win with 8:24 left in the second period to give BU a 3-2 lead which they would take into the final frame.
That goal came several minutes after PC's Mark Jankowski cashed in on a Friars power play firing a shot from inside the face off circle into the back of the net, to tie the game up at two
Action Packed Start
PC's Anthony Florentino ripped a shot from just above the face-off circle into the back of the net to give the Friars a 1-0 lead with 10:35 to play in the opening frame.
However, the Terriers came right back and in a span of four seconds, took early control of the game.
First Ahti Oksanen scored a bad angle goal sliding the puck between the post and Jon Gillies pad to tie the game at one.
Just four seconds later, Danny O'Regan lifted a back hander over Gillies to give the Terriers a 2-1 lead with seven minutes to play in the game.
The two goals in four seconds are the fastest two goals in NCAA tournament history. BU led 2-1 after the first period.
Road to the the Title
After losing to New Hampshire in game three of the Hockey East tournament, the Friars got into the NCAA Tournament and caught a break in the first two rounds as they got to play in Providence at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.
PC faced Miami (Ohio) in the first round game and after having a big lead, held on for dear life in the final minutes and won 7-5 to advance.
In their second round contest, Providence faced Denver and cashed in on a third period power play to win 4-1 and advance to the Frozen Four for the first time since 1985.
Providence faced Omaha in the Frozen Four and completely dominated the game. It was one of, if not their best, performance of the season. PC won 4-1 to get to the National Championship game, where they would cash in.
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