For the first time in almost seven years, the Mayor’s Cup trophy will reside at Meehan Auditorium after the men’s hockey team (3-6-1, 1-6-1 ECAC) defeated No. 8 Providence College (9-3-3, 6-0-1 Hockey East) 3-2 at the Friars’ Schneider Arena on Saturday night.
Providence won the last six matchups against the Bears, all by multiple goals. With the Friars — one of the highest ranked teams in the country — entering Saturday’s match on a nine-game unbeaten streak this season, it looked as if the Mayor’s Cup trophy would likely stay on the west side of the Providence River.
But a three-goal burst for the Bears in a 4:16 span in the second period plus a stout defensive performance throughout was enough to secure the upset.
“That was our best game of the year so far,” defenseman Luke Krys ’23 said. “We proved to ourselves that we can compete with those top teams.”
The Friars began the game as the stronger team, trapping the puck in the Brown zone and testing Brown goalie Mathieu Caron ’25 several times. Providence’s best chance came from forward Cody Monds, who drove to the net, deked to his right and tried to hook the puck around Caron. But the Brown goalie, with an outstretched pad, made the save.
Providence broke through 14 minutes in when defenseman Max Crozier, off a faceoff, threw the puck to the front of the net. A screened Caron was unable to react before the puck slid through his legs.
The Bears began the second period on a power play, which forward Brendan Clark ’25 said allowed them to “set the tone” for the period. “Our first power play unit went out there and … got on top of (the Friars) early, got some shots to the net and hemmed them in their own zone,” he said.
Shortly after the Brown power play ended, defenseman Brett Bliss ’25 scored Bruno’s opening goal, sending a one-time wrister from the blue line through traffic past Providence goalie Austin Roden and landing Bruno on the scoreboard.
“Sometimes once one goes into the net, you get that sense of confidence and you roll off that from there,” Clark said.
Continuing its offensive pressure, Brown took the lead two minutes later with a bit of luck. Forward Ryan Bottrill ’26, turning near the left circle, scuffed a soft shot towards the net that deflected off the leg of a Friar defenseman, taking it past Roden.
“What really sparked that run was just getting shots on net,” Krys said.
Ninety seconds after Bottrill’s goal, a wrist shot from defenseman Jackson Munro ’25 turned Brown’s one-two punch into an offensive flurry. Clark, skating along the blue line, laid it off for Munro, who was heading in the opposite direction. Munro skated into a clearing around the left circle and unleashed a vicious wrister that ricocheted off the far post and into the net.
Brown’s attacking outburst forced Providence to pull Roden in favor of goalie Philip Svedebäck.
“In the first period, we had to weather their attack. They were playing pretty well, and we were on our heels a little bit. But I think we defended really well even though we allowed that one goal,” said forward Connor Marshall ’23. “In the second period, we were able to turn that defense into offense and just be opportunistic. You have to do that against a team like that, because they’re really good.”
Munro had another chance before the period ended, finding himself 1-on-1 with Svedebäck, but his shot hit the outside of the post.
In the final period, Providence upped its attacking urgency, outshooting the Bears 18-5. Forward Brett Berard clanged the post on a wrister with 10 minutes to play, and the Friars drew one back when defenseman Austen May backhanded a loose puck into an open net following a scrum in front of Caron.
But still, an aggressive Brown defensive, which recorded 25 blocks throughout the game, limited consistent chances for the Friars. Caron stood tall for the shots that did get through, making 35 saves in total.
“He’s been our best player so far this year,” Krys said. “He’s been absolutely lights out. We needed him to play well to win, and he did.”
“He’s been tremendous all year,” said center Cole Quisenberry ’23. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to get him enough wins so far because he’s truly deserved it throughout the season, but it is really great to get him a top-10 win against a team like Providence.”
The victory marked the first time Brown defeated Providence since a 4-3 overtime win in January 2016. “Having a crosstown rivalry is pretty special in itself,” Clark said. “We definitely circle that game on our calendar at the start of the year. It definitely was a really special experience to bring the first one back in six years for Brown, especially for our seniors.”
“Anytime you get to play for a trophy there’s a little something more on the line,” Krys said. “There’s not many trophies you get to play for at the collegiate level.”
The Mayor’s Cup victory caps a two-win weekend for the Bears, who shutout College of the Holy Cross 3-0 Friday, a win that snapped a six-game winless streak.
The Bears hope that the weekend marks a turning point in their season, with a home game on Tuesday against perennial national contenders Boston College (4-5-2, 4-3-1 Hockey East) up next.
With “a win like this, … you start to believe a little bit more and hopefully can carry that momentum into the rest of the season,” Marshall said.
