#5 PC Hockey Beats UConn, 3-1; Next up Hockey East Tournament

#5 PC Hockey Beats UConn, 3-1; Next up Hockey East Tournament

The #5-ranked Providence College hockey squad completed its regular season at Schneider on Saturday with a satisfying 3-1 win over the Connecticut Huskies.  The Friars finished the regular season with an overall 23-9-2 record and an 18-5-1 record in Hockey East in first place.

Phil Svedeback, PC’s senior goalie, who has been out of the lineup for almost two months with an injury, was honored before the game on Senior Night.  His parents from Sweden were there to enjoy the ceremony, as Svedeback received a standing ovation from the Schneider matinee crowd.

Connecticut entered the game ranked #14/15 in the country and on the NCAA tournament bubble, as only 16 teams play in the NCAA tournament.  A win over PC would have greatly enhanced their chance of an NCAA tournament bid. The Huskies played the Friars tough, outshooting PC 38-30 for the game.  The score was tied 1-1 after two periods.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

The Friars scored the winning goal early in the third period on Logan Sawyer’s 13 goal of the season on a beautiful deke of Connecticut’s goalie Muszelik.  The Friars had several opportunities to add to the lead but couldn’t find the back of the net.  The 2-1 score held until 19:58 when Graham Gamache nailed an empty netter to seal the win.  Freshman goalie Jack Parsons had a solid game, stopping 37 of the 38 shots he faced.

PC Coach Leaman made a cool, gracious move after the Gamache goal.  He put the injured Phil Svedeback in the goal for the final two seconds of the game, so Svedeback could close out his Friar career on the ice in the net.

Next up for the Friars is the Hockey East tournament.  The Friars have a first-round bye and will play on Saturday, March 14, at 7 PM in the quarter-final round.  As the #1 seed, PC will play the lowest-seed-winner of one of the following games to be held this coming Wednesday:

#8 Merrimack vs #9 UMass-Lowell

#6 BU vs #11 Vermont

#7 Northeastern vs #10 UNH

If the favored teams win these matches, PC would face # 8 Merrimack in the quarterfinal round.  But Hockey East has been filled with upsets this year, so the Friars will have to wait until 10:30 pm Wednesday to see who they’ll play on Saturday at Schneider.  The other quarterfinal round features #4 BC vs #5 Maine, and #2 UMass and #3 UConn vs the other two winners from Wednesday night.

The semifinals will be held at the Boston Garden on Friday night, March 20, and the finals on Saturday night, March 21.

After the quarterfinals, the teams will be reseeded.  If PC wins next Saturday, it would face the lowest-seeded winner of the quarterfinal games.