10th-Ranked Providence Holds Off Northeastern, 4-3
  Friars' Ballard Makes 43 Saves In Win

        BOSTON, Mass. --  The 10th-ranked Providence College Friars scored three
consecutive third period goals and held off the surging Northeastern Huskies
for a 4-3 win in HOCKEY EAST action on Friday, February 2 at Matthews Arena
in Boston, Mass.
        In a hard-hitting, tightly played game, the two teams were deadlocked at
0-0 through 30 minutes of action due some strong goaltending by PC's Boyd
Ballard and Northeastern's Mike Gilhooly.  At the 14:34 mark of the second
period, the Friars broke the 0-0 tie with a power-play goal by Devin Rask.
Rask redirected Jay Leach's blast from the left point high into the top of
the net for his team leading 14th goal of the season.
        Despite being out shot 7-2 to open the third period, the Friars took a
two-goal lead on a tally by Regan Kelly at 4:56 of the third.  Jon
DiSalvatore broke down the right wing and sent a nifty pass across the front
of net to Kelly who wristed home his second goal of the season.  Peter
Zingoni added to the Friar lead in the third period when he took a long pass
from Dominic Torretti and broke in on Gilhooly.  Zingoni faked to his
backhand and then wristed a high shot over a sprawled Gilhooly.  The Friars
opened up the game and took a 4-0 lead on Kelly's second goal of the period
at the 9:55 mark.  However, the game got interesting when Northeastern
pulled its goaltender during a five-on-three power play and had six skaters
on the ice.  After peppering Ballard for 50 minutes, Northeastern's Jim
Fahey scored on a shot from the right point during the power play at 12:11
of the third.  The Huskies made the game close on consecutive goals by Joe
Mastronardi at 13:45 and Arik Engbrecht at 18:47, but Ballard and the Friars
hung on for a 4-3 victory.
        Ballard made a career high 43 stops, including 21 in the third period, to
earn his sixth win of the season.  Gilhooly registered 19 stops in the loss.
        With the win,  Providence improved to 14-7-4 overall and 8-5-2 in HOCKEY
EAST action, while Northeastern fell  to 10-11-4 overall, 5-8-4 in league play.
        The Friars will return to action against Merrimack College on Saturday,
February 4  at Schneider Arena at 7:00 p.m.

Providence College      0       1       3       -- 4
Northeastern    0       0       3       -- 3

First period - No Scoring.  Penalties - PC, 4-8; NU, 2-4.

Second period -PC, Rask (Leach, Libby) PP 14:34. Penalties - PC, 7-14; NU, 7-14.

Third period - PC, Kelly 2 (DiSalvatore, Rask) 4:56; PC, Zingoni 2
(Torretti) 9:13; PC, Kelly 3 (Wright) 9:55; NU, Fahey 2 (Ryan, Levesque) pp
5 x 3 12:11; NU, Mastronardi 5 (Fahey, MacDonald) 13:45; NU, Engbrecht 1
(Levesque, Mischler) 18:47. Penalties - PC, 3-6; NU, 2-4.

Saves - Ballard, PC, 13-9-21 -- 43 (60:00):  Gilhooly, NU, 5- 11-3 --19
(56:59) .

Records - Providence College, 14-7-4 (8-5-2); Northeastern,  10-11-4 (5-8-4).

Attendance: 2,618 (Matthews Arena)