| PC | 4 |
|---|---|
| Denver | 1 |
PROVIDENCE — Offering a stick salute from center ice, the Providence College hockey team was serenaded by its fans with an exuberant rendition of “I’m Shipping up to Boston’’ after the fourth-seeded Friars scored a gritty 4-1 victory over No. 2 seed Denver in the NCAA East Regional final Sunday at Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
No one from little Rhody will need Mapquest to find their way to the Friars’ next destination, TD Garden in Boston, after Providence punched its ticket to the Frozen Four. It will be the program’s fourth appearance in the national semifinals and first in three decades.
The Friars will face Nebraska-Omaha on April 9, with Boston University and North Dakota meeting in the other semifinal.
“This is a special hockey state, hockey’s big in this state,’’ said Providence coach Nate Leaman, whose Friars (24-13-2) lost to eventual NCAA champion Union, 3-1, in last year’s East Regional final. “We were happy to come through when we had the opportunity to play in front of our fans.’’
After surviving Saturday’s wild 7-5 semifinal victory over top-seeded Miami, in which the RedHawks tallied three third-period goals with an extra skater, the Friars rode the stellar goaltending of Jon Gillies (23 saves) and power-play goals by Noel Acciari for a 1-0 lead at 14:22 of the second period and Tom Parisi to break a 1-1 tie at 14:59 of the third.
Parisi’s goal came with 39 seconds remaining on the man-advantage after Denver’s Joey LaLeggia, who tallied the Pioneers’ goal, was hit with a game disqualification and a five-minute major for contact to the head after he leveled PC junior forward Steven McParland at mid-ice.
“As we were walking down the hall to breakfast this morning, I told Jon that he needed to be our best player,’’ said Leaman, who called a timely timeout with 5:27 remaining in the game to settle his team after he sensed they were pressing for a goal. “And he was.’’
Gillies met his coach’s challenge and kept his teammates in the game when Denver came out in the first and took the play to the Friars. His only blemish came on a fluky goal in the third, when LaLeggia’s shot off the glass bounced off Gillies and into the net at 7:52.
“I saw him come down the slot and I watched it go over the net and then I heard it go off the glass,’’ Gillies said. “I looked straight up and fell backwards, but I think I hit the puck into the net. It was an unlucky bounce, but the boys battled back.’’
The Pioneers pressed the issue early against Providence. That caused Leaman to have nightmarish flashbacks to last year’s regional final against Union.
“I thought they had a lot more jump than us early in the game,’’ Leaman said. “I thought we struggled finding our legs, just like we did last year in the first period. It was tough on that quick turnaround, but Jonny held us in. He really got us through that first period.’’
When Acciari backhanded Shane Luke’s saucer pass from the left point past Denver freshman goaltender Tanner Jaillet (20 saves), it allowed the Friars to exhale. But LaLeggia’s power-play tally, which came 32 seconds after Ross Mauermann was sent off for hooking at 7:20, turned the game into a taut affair in the third.
The contest, however, turned for PC when LaLeggia was hit with a five-minute major and game disqualification. “It was definitely a chance for us to swing the momentum,’’ said Parisi, who did precisely that when he rifled home a shot from the high slot.
Empty-net goals by Brandon Tanev at 18:28 and Kevin Rooney at 19:07 triggered a euphoric celebration, and Providence set its sights for Boston.
“This is a great moment for our program, but our job’s not done,’’ Leaman said. “Now, we move on to Boston. The job’s not done.’’
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MBVEGA.