1998-99 PROVIDENCE COLLEGE MEN'S HOCKEY: 20-17-1, 12-11-1, 4th HOCKEY EAST

The Friars entered the 1998-99 season with a senior class that had aspirations of helping the team regain its winning ways. PC's five seniors, forwards Mike Omicioli (W. Warwick, R.I.), Jon Cameron (Langley, British Columbia), Troy Lake (Edmonton, Alberta), Jon Coe (Anoka, Minn.) and goaltender Mark Kane (St. Albert, Alberta) were all instrumental in helping the Friars capture the HOCKEY EAST title in their freshman season (1996). However, the team struggled in 1997 and 1998 and the five seniors wanted to end their careers at PC on a winning note.

After recording a 15-18-3 mark in 1997-98, the Friars were not regarded as one of the league's elite teams and were picked to finish in fifth place in the HOCKEY EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll. However, the Friars proved they were better than their preseason billing by finishing in fourth place in the league standings for the third time in last four years with a 12-11-1 mark. Overall, PC posted its first winning season since 1996 by recording a 20-17-1 mark and recording the 11th 20-win campaign in the 48 seasons of Friar hockey. In addition, PC defeated Boston University in the HOCKEY EAST Quarterfinals and advanced to league's Semifinals at the FleetCenter where the team lost to regular-season champion New Hampshire, 6-2.

In contrast to the 1996 squad that achieved success with tight defense and timely offense, the 1999 Friars were a high-powered offensive club. PC posted some impressive team and individual statistics in 1999. The most impressive statistic was the Friars' No. 1 ranked power-play. PC finished the season 50 of 197 on the power play, which ranked the squad tops in the nation with a power-play percentage of 25.4. The Friars also finished fourth in nation in scoring, averaging 4.18 goals per game. With 159 tallies, PC produced its highest goal total since 1992 and its 10th highest total of all-time. The Friars scored five or more goals in 19 of their 38 games.

Individually, PC had a number of players produce some outstanding numbers. Junior Jerry Keefe led the squad in scoring (52 points) and finished second on the team in assists. Keefe's 52 points in 35 games enabled him to finish 14th in the nation in points per game (1.49). He also finished sixth in the nation in assists per game (1.03). Keefe's offensive production was a pleasant surprise for the Friars as he recorded only 37 points in his first two seasons with the black and white. For his efforts, Keefe was named New England's Most Improved Player. Junior Fernando Pisani (Edmonton, Alberta) finished first on the squad in assists (37) and second on the team in scoring (51 points). With 115 career points, Pisani became the first Friar to reach the 100-point plateau in his junior season since Chad Quenneville accomplished the feat in 1995. Mike Omicioli was the third member of the dynamic trio that made up the Friars' first line. Omicioli had a remarkable season for the Friars. At 5-feet-5-inches tall, Omicioli was always the shortest player on the ice, but almost always played with more skill and confidence than anybody. He finished the season tied for the team lead in goals (19) and third in points (50). He finished his career at Providence 17th all-time in scoring with 138 points (49 goals, 89 assists) in 135 games. In recognition of his excellent play, Omicioli earned Second-Team HOCKEY EAST All-Star accolades. Even more impressive was the honor of being named a co-recipient of the Walter Brown Award, given annually to the top American born college hockey player in New England. Omicioli joins some very impressive former winners, including former Friars Ron Wilson, Tim Army and Rob Gaudreau. The third honor he earned was being named to the New England Division I All-Star Team.

Mike Omicioli, Keefe and Pisani all registered 50 or more points for PC in 1998-99, which marked the first time three Friars each had 50 or more points since 1983 when Kurt Kleinendorst (72 points), Gates Orlando (69 points) and Paul Guay (65 points) all achieved the feat.

Other players that had significant offensive numbers for the Friars were Troy Lake, junior defenseman Josh MacNevin (W. Lethbridge, Alberta), junior forward Doug Sheppard (Georgetown, Ontario) and junior defenseman Jason Ialongo (Cranston, R.I.). Lake led the team in power-play goals (nine) and finished tied for the team lead in goals (19) and game-winning goals (three). MacNevin had a career season for the Friars, finishing fourth overall in scoring with 35 points and leading all PC defenseman in scoring. Sheppard was one of PC's top special teams players, ending the season tied for the second in the nation in short-handed goals with four. He also finished tied for the team lead in game-winning goals (three). Ialongo was a catalyst on PC's highly productive power-play. He scored eight of his 11 goals in man-advantage situations and posted a career high 29 points for the season.

Throughout the season there were a number of highlights for the team. In the Friars' third and fourth games of the season, they battled Boston University in a home-and-home series on November 30-31. The Friars swept the home-and- home series ending a six-game losing streak against BU and giving PC its first back-to-back wins against the Terriers since the 1988-89 season. Another key early season win for the Friars was a 6-1 victory against nationally ranked New Hampshire at Schneider Arena on November 6. The win was significant because it ended the Friars' three-game losing streak against the Wildcats and the five-goal deficit proved to be UNH's worst defeat of the season.

The Friars struggled to find consistency in the first 15 games prior to Christmas break, posting a record of 7-8. In the Friars' first game after break, PC travelled to Ithaca, N.Y. and tallied six unanswered goals to earn a 7-3 win at Cornell on January 15. It started a streak where the team won five of its next six games, including four league games to move into fourth place in HOCKEY EAST standings. Also included in the winning streak was a 3-2 victory against Brown on January 12, where the Friars captured their first Mayor's Cup title since 1995. PC's final victory in the winning streak was a 3-0 shutout at Boston College. It was one of the Friars' top performances all season and it marked the only time the nationally ranked Eagles were shutout in 1998-99.

PC finished the regular season strong with a 5-2-1 record in the month of February. The Friars third win of the month came on February 13th when PC earned a 6-3 victory against BU at Schneider Arena. The win marked the first time ever that PC won three regular-season games against the Terriers. On February 23, the Friars skated to a 5-5 overtime tie against the BC Eagles at Schneider Arena. With the tie, the Friars clinched fourth place in the league standings and eventually finished the season with a 12-11-1 mark in HOCKEY EAST play.

The Friars hosted the fifth-place BU Terriers in HOCKEY EAST best-of-three Quarterfinal Series on March 12-14. In the first game of the series, PC exploded for seven goals in the third period to earn an 8-2 win against the Terriers. With the seven-goal outburst, PC established two HOCKEY EAST Tournament records. The Friars set a record for the fastest four goals in a period with four tallies in 3:06. Also, the Friars tied the mark for goals in a period with seven in the third. In the second game, BU changed the tide on the Friars, scoring five unanswered goals in the second period to earn an 8-2 win on March 13. It was the team's worst loss of the season. In the third and final game of the series, PC limited BU to just 15 shots and one goal while earning a 5-1 victory. The win gave the Friars their fifth victory of the season against BU and earned the team its first trip to the league's final four since 1996.

PC was matched against the league's regular-season champion New Hampshire in the HOCKEY EAST Semifinal. It was PC's ninth time qualifying for the HOCKEY EAST Semifinals in the 15-year history of the league. After dominating the first period, the Friars fell behind 3-1 after two periods and could not hold off the Wildcats as they went on to earn a 6-2 win.

The 1998-99 season proved to be very successful for the Friars. The teams' five seniors all were very instrumental in helping the team post a 20-17-1 mark and return to the FleetCenter for the HOCKEY EAST Semifinals. The Friars finished fourth in HOCKEY EAST play with a respectable 12-11-1 mark in the top conference in the nation.