Boston College Athletics
Men's Hockey Defeats Providence, 5-2
June 21, 1999 | Men's Hockey
January 24, 1999
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Boston College sophomore forward Brian Gionta tallied his third hat trick of the season to lead the Eagles in a 5-2 win over Providence in front of a sold-out crowd of 3,030 at PCs Schneider Arena.
BC (14-8-2 overall, 9-5 HOCKEY EAST) led 3-0 before the Friars (13-10-0 overall, 8-6-0 HOCKEY EAST) notched back-to-back tallies to draw within one goal at the end of two periods. Gionta netted two third-period goals to ensure the victory.
The Eagles led 1-0 when senior forward Matt Mulhern scored his fourth goal of the season at 4:38 of the first period. Senior forward Andy Powers gave the Eagles a two-goal advantage when he scored at 14:07 of the opening stanza. Both tallies resulted from face-off wins by senior forward Nick Pierandri who notched his first multiple-point game of the season with the two assists.
Giontas power-play goal gave BC a three-goal advantage six minutes into the second period. Providences Fernando Pisani got the Friars on the scoreboard with a power-play goal of his own less than a minute later. The Friars Josh MacNevin followed with another power-play tally to make the score 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Gionta pushed the lead back to two goals when he netted a short-handed tally at 17:09 of the third period. Gionta stole the puck from a Friars player in the offensive zone and blistered a shot into the upper corner of the net. He closed the scoring -- and notched his fourth career hat trick -- with an empty-net goal at 19:02 of the final period.
BCs Scott Clemmensen made 22 saves, while Providences Mark Kane made 28 stops.
Boston College will return to HOCKEY EAST action when they host UMass-Amherst on Tuesday January 26. Game time is 7 p.m. in Kelley Rink.
