Yep, that's right, Providence 4, Minnesota 3 on Friday night at Mariucci Arena. The Gophers apparently never got their wakeup call, and slept through the first period allowing Providence to skate to a 2-0 lead. The Friars' first goal came as they were skating two men short. I don't remember the fellow's name, but he roared in on a breakaway to beat Gopher goalie Jeff Stolp. The Gophers played a much better second period, peppering the Providence goalie with something like 18 shots, of which two went in. Providence also picked up a goal, and led 3-2 after two periods. The Gophers tied the game at 3 early in the third, but then took one of the stupidest penalties I have seen all season. A freshman Gopher defenseman who shall go nameless here lost his helmet, then played the puck in an effort to clear the zone before returning to the bench. That misjudgment cost him a visit to the penalty box, and Providence scored the game-winner on the power play. The Gophers tried hard to tie the game in the remaining minutes, but were too disorganized to accomplish the feat. I think they were as amazed as the crowd. All in all, a rather poor effort by the Gophers, and an impressive effort by Providence. I think the Gophers will play three solid periods tomorrow night and take the series to a third game, but they will have to do a lot better than they did tonight. Providence's band was at the game, but they were not up to what we have come to expect from visiting bands in the NCAA playoffs the past few years (Clarkson, Michigan State, Wisconsin). Still, I think that this is the first time in all the years I have been going to Mariucci Arena that the Gophers have lost a game when the opposing team's band was there. **************************************************************************** Erik Biever --GOLDEN GOPHER MMMMM MMMMM St. Paul, Minnesota - Home of the --HOCKEY MM MM MM MM 1991 WCHA & NCAA Championships --Fastest Game MM MMMM MM BITNET: e-biev@uminn1 --In Town MM MMMMMM MM INTERNET: [log in to unmask] MMMMM MMMMM