PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Providence College Friars defeated the UMass-Lowell River Hawks, 5-2, in HOCKEY EAST action on Sunday, January 17, 1999 in Lowell, Mass. The win was the Friars' fifth victory in the last six games.

The Friars jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Leigh Dean sent a pass from left to right across the neutral zone to Marc Suderman who broke in all alone on UMass-Lowell goaltender Scott Fankhouser and flipped a backhander through the five hole at 7:17 of the first period.

Jon Cameron scored a short-handed tally to put the Friars ahead by two goals when he blasted a shot from outside the blueline which squirted through Fankhouser's pads at 9:07 of the second period. UMass' Chris Bell got the River Hawks on the scoreboard with an end-to-end rush that he finished off by wristing a low shot through PC goaltender Boyd Ballard's pads at 15:05 of the second period. Twenty-one seconds later, PC regained its two-goal lead when Troy Lake redirected Jay Leach's shot from the left point past Fankhouser.

Doug Sheppard netted the Friars' fourth goal of the afternoon when he rifled in a shot from 15 feet in front of the net with assists going to West Warwick's Mike Omicioli and Drew Omicioli at 5:05 of the third period. The River Hawks' John Campbell cut into the Friars' lead when he broke in on Ballard and unleashed a backhander which rebounded off a PC defenseman into the net at 8:06 of the third. Mike Omicioli added an empty net goal for the Friars at 18:14 to seal the win.

Ballard played strong in net for the Friars, making 23 stops.

With the win, Providence raised its record to 12-9 overall , while UMass-Lowell fell to 12-10 overall.

Providence returns to action on Friday, Jan. 22 at Boston College at 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, January 17, 1999

Tsongas Arena, Lowell, Mass.

Providence College (12-9) 1 2 2 -- 5 8-16 1-5

UMass-Lowell (12-10) 0 1 1 -- 2 6-12 0-6

Per Time Team Goal Scorer (Assists)

1 7:17 PC Marc Suderman 2 (Leigh Dean, Matt Libby)

2 9:07 PC Jon Cameron 4 (Troy Lake, Leigh Dean) SH

2 15:05 UML Chris Bell 13 (Anthony Cappelletti, Kevin Bertram) 4 x 4

2 15:26 PC Troy Lake 11 (Jay Leach, Jason Ialongo) PP GW

3 5:05 PC Doug Sheppard 7 (Mike Omicioli, Drew Omicioli)

3 8:06 UML John Campbell 10 (Chris Bell, Mike Mulligan)

3 18:14 PC Mike Omicioli 14 (Fernando Pisani) ENG

Penalties by period

PC 2-4 6-12 0-0 --8-16

UML 1-2 4-8 1-2 --6-12

Saves:

Boyd Ballard (PC) 7 8 8 --23 (60:00)

Scott Fankhouser (UML) 3 4 5 --12 (59:47)

Attendance: 2,027 (Tsongas Arena)