The men’s hockey team suffered a 3-2 loss against No. 4 Providence College in the 28th annual battle for the Mayor’s Cup Saturday night, despite a third period rally. Matt Lorito ’15 and Matt Harlow ’15 both scored in the final frame, but it was not enough for Bruno to overcome an early deficit.
“If we played the way we did in the third period the whole game, I think it’s a different outcome,” Lorito said. “I thought we battled hard. Overall, I was pretty happy with how we played.”
The Bears (3-6-1, 1-4-1 ECAC) have now dropped each of their last four games and sit in 11th place in the ECAC. Though Brown outshot the Friars 34-29, Providence (11-2-2) dominated the faceoff margin 50-29. Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play.
“Since the first weekend we’ve gone a little bit cold, but definitely not from a lack of effort,” Harlow said. “Sometimes, like yesterday, a couple of bounces don’t go your way. We just have to keep working hard and stick to our system if we want to turn it around.”
Providence first threatened midway through the first with back-to-back power play opportunities, but Brown killed off both penalties to keep the game scoreless. With three minutes left in the opening period, the Friars got on the board first with a second-chance goal from forward Nick Saracino.
Early in the second frame, Drew Brown put the Friars up 2-0 on a rebound score from Mark Jankowski’s shot from the right circle.
Bruno finally found the scoring chart on Lorito’s goal less than four minutes into the third period. After taking a pass from Mark Naclerio ’16 and gaining the zone, Nick Lappin ’16 found Lorito in front of Providence goalie Jon Gillies. Lorito fired the shot past Gillies for his team-leading sixth goal of the season, bringing the Bears within one.
“(Lappin) made a really nice pass to me, right where I wanted it,” Lorito said. “I was just able to get enough wood on it and place it where the goalie couldn’t make a save. I was just lucky it went in.”
Midway through the third, Providence forward Derek Army responded by firing a shot past goalie Marco De Filippo ’14 to put the Friars up by two.
Two minutes later, Harlow made the score 3-2 with his third goal of the season. Mark Hourihan ’14 passed the puck from behind the Friars’ net to captain Dennis Robertson ’14 to start the play. Robertson sent a shot toward the net, which Harlow tipped in past Gillies.
“(Hourihan) made a great play back to (Robertson) at the point,” Harlow said. Robertson “had a nice shot along the ice, and I was able to get my stick on the puck and get it up into the short-side corner.”
Bruno’s offensive attack faltered after the Harlow goal. The Bears only managed two shots on goal in the final eight minutes, both of which Gillies turned aside on his way to 32 saves. Lorito had the best opportunity to tie the game with 16 seconds remaining, but he could not convert.
“I was in a rush with so little time left,” Lorito said. “I brought the puck up the ice and I was the first man into the zone. It was one-on-two, and I tried to get a shot through the defense. I didn’t really get it where I wanted it, and (Gillies) made a decent save on it.”
De Fillipo made 26 saves for Brown in the defeat.
The Bears return to Meehan Auditorium after a six-game road trip Friday. They face Harvard (4-6-1, 2-5-1) Friday and Dartmouth (1-8-0, 1-6-0) Saturday. Both games will start at 7:00 p.m.
“It will be nice not having to go on the road and to be able to play in front of the home crowd again,” Harlow said. “We’ve been away from Meehan for a while. It will be nice to get back there and play two really good teams next weekend and hopefully get a couple of wins to get back on the right track.”
ADVERTISEMENT
