June 19, 2002

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Providence College hockey coach Paul Pooley today announced that student-athlete Matt Mannina (Schaumburg, Ill.) has signed a national letter of intent to attend Providence College beginning in September 2002. Mannina will join Jason Bloomingburg (Canton, Mich.), Torry Gajda (Westfield, Mass.), Bobby Goepfert (Kings Park, N.Y.), Bryan Horan (Farmington, Conn.), Luke Irwin (Burnsville, Minn.), Nate Meyers (Maple Glen, Pa.) and James Pemberton (Cumberland, R.I.) for a total of eight new players on the 2002-03 hockey roster.

Mannina, a 5-foot-10-inch, 175-pound defenseman, played for the Rochester Mustangs of the United States Hockey League in 2001-02. In 51 games with the Mustangs, he registered seven goals and 27 assists for 34 points last season and earned the squad's Top Defenseman honor. Mannina finished in the top five scoring among all defenseman in the USHL in 2001-02. In his first season of junior hockey, he played for the Chicago Freeze of the North American Hockey League in 2000-01. Mannina is the son of Elmer and Mary Mannina. He is a 2001 graduate of James B. Conant High School.

"Matt Mannina is a very skilled defenseman with offensive ability," Pooley said. "He has a good hockey sense and excels at carrying the puck up the ice. We are excited to have Matt joining our team in 2002-03."

2002-03 PROVIDENCE COLLEGE HOCKEY FRESHMAN CLASS

Jason Bloomingburg	LW	6-0	195	Canton, Mich./Texas Tornado (NAHL)
Torry Gajda	        LW	5-9	185	Westfield, Mass./New England Coyotes (EJHL)
Bobby Goepfert	        G	5-10	170	Kings Park, N.Y./Cedar Rapids Roughriders (USHL)
Bryan Horan	        RW/C	6-1	185	Farmington, Conn./New England Coyotes (EJHL)
Luke Irwin	        D	6-2	215	Burnsville, Minn./Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
Matt Mannina	        D	5-10	175	Schaumburg, Ill./Rochester Mustangs (USHL)
Nate Meyers	        LW/RW	6-0	210	Maple Glen, Pa./Cedar Rapids Roughriders (USHL)
James Pemberton	        D	6-4	215	Cumberland, R.I./New England Coyotes (EJHL)

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