December 9, 1998

PROVIDENCE COLLEGE (7-7) at DARTMOUTH COLLEGE (3-4)

December 11, 1998 at Thompson Arena (Hanover, N.H.) -- 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY'S GAME... Is the Friars' 15th game of the season and seventh road game (2-4).

NEXT GAME... Friday's game will be the Friars' final game before the holiday break. PC will return to action on Jan. 5 at Cornell at 7:00 p.m.

THE PROVIDENCE-DARTMOUTH SERIES... Friday's game will be the 21st meeting between the two schools. Providence College leads the all-times series 13-7. The two teams first met on March 5, 1953 with Dartmouth defeating Providence, 6-2, at Davis Rink. PC's last win against the Big Green was a 5-2 victory at Schneider Arena on Jan. 21, 1997. The Friars' last loss to Dartmouth was a 4-1 defeat in the championship game at the Sheraton/USAirway Classic in Burlington, Vt. on Dec. 28, 1997.

AT THOMPSON ARENA... PC holds a 4-2 record against the Big Green at Thompson Arena. PC won the first meeting between the two schools at the Thompson Arena, 4-3, on Feb. 8, 1977. The Friars' last win at Thompson Arena was a 8-4 decision on Jan. 4, 1983. The last time Dartmouth defeated PC at Thompson Arena was Dec. 30, 1994 (4-2).

LAST SEASON AGAINST DARTMOUTH... In the only meeting between the two teams last season, Dartmouth defeated the Friars, 4-1, in the championship game of the Sheraton/USAirways Classic in Burlington, Vt on Dec. 28, 1997. J.J. Picinic tallied to lone goal for the Friars. Goaltender Boyd Ballard made 18 saves in the loss.

FRIARS VS. NON CONFERENCE OPPONENTS... PC has posted a 3-3 mark against non-conference opponents this season. The Friars are 1-1 versus CCHA teams, 1-1 against WCHA squads and 1-1 versus ECAC foes.

FRIARS SPLIT WITH MERRIMACK... The Providence College Friars posted a 1-1 mark on Dec. 3-4 against Merrimack. On Dec. 3, PC was defeated by Merrimack, 3-2, at the Volpe Complex. Junior Jerry Keefe and senior Mike Omicioli each scored for PC. Senior Mark Kane made 34 saves in the loss. On Dec. 4, PC earned a 3-2 win against the Warriors in overtime at Schneider Arena. Omicioli tallied the game-winning goal for the Friars at 1:09 of the overtime period. Sophomore Matt Libby and junior Fernando Pisani also scored for PC. Kane recorded 28 saves in the win.

HEAD COACH PAUL POOLEY... Is the 10th coach in the history of Providence College hockey. Since 1994, Pooley has compiled a 72-77-13 record and brought the Friars to two HOCKEY EAST Finals and one NCAA Tournament appearance. In 1994-95, Pooley became the first head coach to bring a team to the HOCKEY EAST Championship Game in his inaugural season behind the bench. In 1995-96, he guided the Friars to their second HOCKEY EAST title and first since 1985. Pooley also led the team to its eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The 38-year-old head coach came to PC after spending three years as an assistant coach at Lake Superior State (1991-94). He began coaching at his alma mater, Ohio State, where he served as an assistant to Jerry Welsh from 1988-91.

KEEFE NOTCHES FIVE POINTS VS. WARRIORS... Junior center Jerry Keefe recorded five points (one goal, four assists) in PC's two games against Merrimack on Dec. 3-4. On Dec. 3, Keefe scored one goal and added one assist in PC's 3-2 loss to Merrimack at the Volpe Complex. The following night, he assisted on all three Friar goals, including the game winner in overtime as PC earned a 3-2 victory against the Warriors. His three points against Merrimack on Dec. 4 marked the 16th multiple-point game of his career and his 10th this season. Keefe has tallied three or more points in four games this season, including two five-point games. On Nov. 27, Keefe recorded five points (two goals, three assists) in PC's 6-5 loss to Princeton at Schneider Arena. On Oct. 30-31, Keefe tallied eight points (three goals, five assists) in PC's two HOCKEY EAST wins against Boston University and earned HOCKEY EAST Player of the Week and U.S. College Hockey Online Offensive Player of the Week honors. On Oct. 31, he led the Friar offense with his first career hat trick, scored the game-winning goal and added two assists in the Friars' 6-4 win against the Terriers at Walter Brown Arena. One of the leading scorers in the nation, Keefe leads the Friars in points (28) and assists (19) and is tied for the team lead in power-play goals (four). In 66 career games, Keefe has registered 65 points (23 goals, 42 assists).

PISANI NOTCHES FIVE POINTS VS. WARRIORS... Junior right wing Fernando Pisani recorded five points in two games against Merrimack on Dec. 3-4. On Dec. 3, he registered two assists in PC's 3-2 loss to Merrimack at the Volpe Complex. The following night, he recorded three points (one goal, two assists) in PC's 3-2 overtime win against the Warriors at Schneider Arena. The three points against Merrimack on Dec. 4 was his 21st career multiple-point game and seventh multiple-point game this season. It also marked the 11th time in his career he has recorded three or more points in a game. On Nov. 27, Pisani notched four assists in the Friars' 6-5 loss to Princeton at Schneider Arena. The four-point effort marked the third time he has recorded four points in a game. A 1996 eighth-round draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers, Pisani has recorded 87 points (33 goals, 54 assists) in 85 career games. This season, he is tied for the team lead in power-play goals (four) and is second in scoring (23 points) and assists (18).

MIKE OMICIOLI SCORES IN FIVE STRAIGHT GAMES... Senior left wing Mike Omicioli scored the game-winning goal at 1:09 of overtime to give PC a 3-2 win against Merrimack on Dec. 4. For Omicioli, it marked the fifth straight game he scored a goal. He also added one assist, which was the 26th multiple-point game of his career and his seventh this season. On Nov. 6, Omicioli tallied two third-period goals and earned the game's No. 1 star in the Friars' 6-1 win against the UNH Wildcats at Schneider Arena. The two-goal effort was Omicioli's fifth career multiple-goal game. On Oct. 31, Omicioli recorded four assists in the Friars' 6-4 victory against BU at Walter Brown Arena. His four-assist effort against BU marked Omicioli's 12th game with three or more points. It also marked the seventh time in his career that he registered three or more assists in a game and the 10th time he posted more than two assists in a contest. This season, Omicioli leads the team in goals (10) and is tied for the team lead in power-play goals (four) and is third in scoring (22 points). He ranks 31st all-time in scoring at Providence College with 110 points (40 goals, 70 assists) in 111 games.

FIRST LINE PRODUCES... PC's first line of senior Mike Omicioli, junior Jerry Keefe and junior Fernando Pisani accounted for 13 of the team's 15 points and four of the five goals in the Friars' two games against Merrimack on Dec. 3-4. Point totals for the weekend were: Keefe (1-4-5), Omicioli (2-1-3) and Pisani (1-4-5). Keefe (28 points), Pisani (23 points) and Omicioli (22 points) have recorded 73 of the team's 163 points (44.8 percent) this season.

KANE IN NET... Senior goaltender Mark Kane registered 62 saves, posted a 2.48 goals against average and a .925 save percentage in PC's two games against Merrimack on Dec. 3-4. On Dec. 3, Kane recorded 34 saves in the Friars' 3-2 loss to Merrimack at the Volpe Complex. The following night, he recorded 28 stops in PC's 3-2 overtime win against Merrimack at Schneider Arena. In 39 career games, Kane has posted a 3.30 goals against average and an .892 save percentage.

PC SIGNS THREE RECRUITS... The PC men's hockey team has three recruits committed for the 1999-00 season. Jonathan DiSalvatore is a 6-foot-1-inch, 185-pound forward from South Windsor, Conn. DiSalvatore plays for the New England Coyotes of the EJHL. Michael Lucci is a 5-foot-11-inch, 190-pound forward from Parma, Ohio. He is playing for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL. Devin Rask is a 5-foot-9-inch, 170-pound forward from Parkside Saskatchewan. Rask is playing for the Yorkton Terriers of the SJHL.

POWER PLAY SUCCESS... The Friars have notched one or more power-play goals in seven of the last eight games. The Friars are 19 of 84 (22.6 percent) on the power-play this season. On Oct. 31 in a 6-4 win at BU, PC tallied a season-high four power-play goals (4-7).

ALL IN THE FAMILY... Senior left wing Mike Omicioli and freshman left wing Drew Omicioli are the first brothers to play for the Friars since Tim and Terry Sullivan of Bloomington, Minn. skated for PC in 1985-86. Mike and Drew of W. Warwick are not the first brothers from Rhode Island to play for PC. One of the most well known Rhode Island sibling groups to play at Providence was the Wilson brothers of East Providence. Brad, Randy and Ron all played together in the mid 1970's at PC. Ron, PC's all-time leading scorer with 250 points, still ranks as the NCAA all-time leading scorer for defenseman. He is now the head coach for the Washington Capitals.

HOCKEY EAST COACHES' POLL... For the third consecutive season, the Friars were picked to finish fifth by the league's nine head coaches in their preseason balloting.

DRAFTEES... Last June, PC had two players selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Sophomore Jay Leach was selected in the fifth round (115th pick) by the Phoenix Coyotes and sophomore Mike Farrell was selected in the eighth round (220th pick) by the Washington Capitals. PC now has seven players on its roster drafted by NHL teams.