PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The second-ranked Maine Black Bears defeated the Providence College Friars, 7-4, in HOCKEY EAST action on Friday, January 29 at PC's Schneider Arena.

Maine took advantage of special teams situations to take a 3-0 lead after one period. Steve Kariya finished off a two-on-one break in during a short-handed situation give the Black Bears a 1-0 lead at 5:48. Ben Guite increased Maine's lead when he poked in a rebound during a power-play at 11:49. Kariya tallied his second of the period when he batted the puck out of the air past PC netminder Boyd Ballard at 16:18 of the first.

In a wild second period, the Friars cut Maine's lead to one goal (4-3) before the Black Bears regained the three-goal cushion. Barett Heisten opened the scoring for the Black Bears in the second period at 4:02 with his sixth goal of the year. Two minutes later, Jason Ialongo got the Friars on the scoreboard with blast from the left point during a power play. Fernando Pisani netted the Friars' second goal when he lifted in a shot from two feet in front of the net at 9:28. The Friars' Drew Omicioli made the score 4-3 with the PC's third consecutive goal at 10:22. Maine's offense kept coming as Cory Larose scored at 12:44 and Jim Leger tallied the Black Bears' final goal of the period with 11 seconds remaining in the period.

The Friars cut the lead to 6-4 at 2:26 of the third when Ialongo netted his second power-play goal of the game with a blast from left point. Bobby Stewart added an empty net short-handed goal at 18:37 to seal the win for Maine.

With the win, Maine raised its record to 19-2-4 overall and 11-2-2 in HOCKEY EAST action, while Providence fell to 13-11 overall and 8-7 in league play.

Providence College will return to action against New Hampshire on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7:00 p.m. at UNH's Whittemore Center.

Friday, January 29, 1999

Schneider Arena, Providence, R.I.

Maine (19-2-4) 3 3 1 -- 7 9-18 1-5

Providence College (13-11) 0 3 1 --4 8-16 2-6

Per Time Team Goal Scorer (Assists)

1 5:48 M Steve Kariya 17 (Cory Larose, David Cullen) SH

1 11:49 M Ben Guite 9 (Anders Lundback, Niko Dimitrakos) PP

1 16:18 M Steve Kariya 18 (Cory Larose, Anders Lundback)

2 4:02 M Barrett Heisten 6 (Steve Kariya, Anders Lundback)

2 6:02 PC Jason Ialongo 7 (Fernando Pisani, Mike Omicioli) PP

2 9:28 PC Fernando Pisani 10 (Mike Omicioli, Jerry Keefe)

2 10:22 PC Drew Omicioli 5 (Mike Farrell, Doug Sheppard)

2 12:44 M Cory Larose 14 (Steve Kariya, A.J. Begg)

2 19:49 M Jim Leger 2 (Ben Guite)

3 2:26 PC Jason Ialongo 8 (Mike Omicioli, Jerry Keefe) PP

3 18:37 M Bobby Stewart 3 (Jim Leger) EN SH

Saves:

Alfie Michaud (M) 10 9 9 --28 (60:00)

Boyd Ballard (PC) 17 8 x --25 (40:00)

Mark Kane (PC) x x 14 --14 (20:00)

Attendance: 2,718 (Schneider Arena)