Saturday, April 11, 2015

Friars Claim First NCAA Title

Gillies shines in wild game featuring 95 combined shots on goal, two lead changes.

Friars Claim First NCAA Title
Photo by ESPN Images

A 49-save effort from junior Jon Gillies (S. Portland, Maine/Indiana-USHL/CGY) and a furious 20-shot, two-goal third-period rally lifted Providence College – the last team to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament – the school’s first national championship with a 4-3 win against Boston University.

The loud, sold-out crowd witnessed a spectacular game, one which included two lead changes and 95 combined shots on goal.

The game was decided on a terrific wrist shot by junior Brandon Tanev (Toronto, Ont./Surrey-BCHL). Moving to his left off a designed faceoff play, Tanev wired the puck past BU goaltender Matt O’Connor (Toronto, Ont./Youngstown-USHL) with 6:17 remaining in the game.

Just 2:19 before, O’Connor surrendered the tying goal when he gloved a seemingly harmless dump-in from Tom Parisi (Commack, N.Y./New Hampshire-EJHL), but then lost the puck between his legs and it trickled in.

Those were two of Providence’s 20 third-period shots. BU – which finished with 52 shots – had 12 in the third period themselves, but Gillies stopped them all. The 95 shots in the game were the most for a championship game decided in regulation and second in all title games, just one shot shy of the four-overtime game between Bowling Green and Minnesota Duluth in 1984.

Providence becomes college hockey’s third straight first-time champion, following Union (2014) and Yale (2013), and the fourth in five years going back to Minnesota Duluth (2011).

Gillies was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Jack Eichel (BU), Mark Jankowski (PC), Ahti Oksanen (BU), Matt Grzelcyk (BU) and Anthony Florentino (PC).