AMHERST, MASS. --  The 10th-ranked Providence College Friars overcame a
four-goal first period deficit to defeat the UMass-Amherst Minutemen, 8-5,
in HOCKEY EAST action, on Sunday, January 7 at the Mullins Center  in
Amherst, Mass.  Junior Drew Omicioli scored two goals and two assists and
for the second consecutive night earned the game's No. 1 star.
        The Minutemen took a 1-0 lead at 7:33 of the first period,  when Tim Turner
knocked a loose puck past PC's goaltender Boyd Ballard, a power play goal.
At 9:38 of the first period, UMass extended their lead  to 2-0, when Kris
Wallis one-timed a pass from Brad Nizwantowski past Ballard.  Wallis notched
his second goal of the period at 14:30 when chipped in a puck that deflected
off Ballard's pads.  Less than one-minute later the Minutemen chased Ballard
from the game in favor of Nolan Schaefer, as Scott Horvath scored their
fourth goal of the period. Ballard finished the night with five saves.
        UMass-Amherst's fourth goal woke-up the Friars' offense as Marc Suderman
notched a short-handed goal at 18:11 of the first period, the first of six
unanswered goals for the Friars.
        Matt Libby notched the Friars' second goal of the game 19 seconds into the
second period.  Libby snapped a wrist shot from the blue-line that beat
Amherst's goaltender Mike Johnson high on the glove side.  Drew Omicioli
brought the Friars to within one goal at 1:07 of the second period, his
fifth goal of the season.  At 3:26, PC's Devin Rask tied the game 4-4, on
the power-play, scoring his team-leading 11th goal of the season.  In a
reversal of fortunes, Rask's goal forced UMass to pull Johnson and replace
him with Markus Halanen.
        Helanen could not change the momentum, as Omicioli scored his second goal
of the game, short-handed, at 5:03 of the second..  Jon DiSalvatore,
returning to the Friars' line-up after a stint with US World Junior Team,
scored PC's sixth goal of the game, a power-play goal, at 9:55 of the second.
        The Minutemen closed to within one goal just 54-seconds into the third
period.  Tim Turner snapped a shot that trickled through Schaefer's pads.
        The Friars ended an thoughts of a late Minutemen rally, as they scored
twice in a span of 47-seconds.  Rask tallied his second goal of the night at
3:54, while Libby recorded his second of the evening at 4:41 of the third
period.
        Schaefer finished the night with 29 saves in the victory, while Johnson and
Helanen combined to stop 19 shots in the loss.
        With the win,   Providence improved to 11-5-3 overall and 7-3-1 in HOCKEY
EAST action, while UMass-Amherst fell  to 5-13-2 overall, 3-7-0 in league play.
        The Friars will return to action on Friday, January 12, versus Iona, at
Schneider Arena at 7:00 p.m.

Providence College      1       5       2       -- 8
UMass-Amherst   4       0       1       -- 5

First period - UM, T. Turner 11 (J. Turner, Miljko) 7:33; UM, Wallis 4
(Soderholm, Nizwantowski) 9:38; UM, Wallis 5(Nizwantowski, Callahan) 14:30;
UM, Horvath 4 (Gates, Zavisa) 15:16; PC, Suderman 3(unassisted) 18:11.
Penalties - PC, 4-8; UM, 1-2.

Second period - PC, Libby 8 (Suderman) 00:19; Omicioli 5(unassisted) 1:07;
PC, Rask 11(Lucci, Leach) 3:46; PC, Omicioli 6 (Rask) 5:03; PC, Disalvatore
7 (Kelly, Picinic) 9:55. Penalties - PC, 2-4; MC, 2-4

Third period - UM, T. Turner 12 (J. TurnerCallahan) 00:54; PC, Rask 12
(Fregoe, Kelly) 3:54; PC, Libby 9 (DiSlavatore, Omicioli) 4:41. Penalties -
PC, 1-2; UM, 2-4

Saves - Ballard, PC, 5-x-x -- 5 (15:16); Schaefer, PC 4-7-7 -- 18 (44:44)
Johnson, UM, X- 4-2 -- 6 (23:46) Helanen, UM x-1-9 --10  (36:14.

Records - Providence College, 11-5-3; UMass-Amherst, 5-13-2.

Attendance: 2489 (Mullins Center)