The brightest moment to date in an otherwise lacklustre season occurred
last night at Schneider Arena as Brown upset Providence College, 4-2, in
a hard-fought contest and took the Mayor's Cup back to the Meehan
Auditorium trophy case on College Hill.  Emblematic of the intercity
meeting between the Bears and Friars, the Mayor's Cup is awarded
annually to the winner of this long-standing rivalry which began in
1927.  Brown has won the trophy in four of the last five years.
 
Providence College forward Doug Sheppard opened the scoring in the first
period with a power play goal at 10:59 before Bear junior forward Matt
Kohansky tallied at 14:56 to produce a 1-1 tie at the end of one.  Brown
sophomore defenseman Josh Barker netted two goals (the first unassisted
at 0:42 and the second on a power play at 19:18) in the second period to
establish a 3-1 Bear edge at the end of the middle stanza before the
Sheppard responded with his second power play goal for the Friars to
narrow the Brown lead to 3-2 at 1:23 of the third period.
But the tenacious Bears continued to play solid defense and co-captain
Tyler Garrow scored an empty net goal to seal the victory in the last
minute (19:07) of play.  Brown goaltender Scott Stirling turned in one
of his finest performances and was credited with a game total of 30
saves.  Boyd Ballard, the PC netminder, had 23 saves in the contest.
 
Things don't get any easier for Brown as the nationally-ranked Niagara
Purple Eagles arrive at Meehan Auditorium this weekend for a two-game
set.  But for the moment, the Bears will savor their most satisfying win
of the season.
 
Bill Corrigan
 
LET'S GO BRUNO!
 
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