Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
3-9-2
Providence
6-5-1
Bruns Stops Season High 43 at Providence
November 25, 2014 | Hockey
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rookie goaltender Cole Bruns kept the Army hockey team in the game all night, but 20th-ranked Providence took home the 3-0 win on Tuesday night at Schneider Arena.
Army (3-9-2) had a few great offensive zone chances, but couldn't solve the Friar netminder, John Gillies. Bruns tried to steal the game with a career-high 43 saves between the pipes.
Providence (6-5-1), who is ranked in the USHCO National Poll, got goals from three different skaters with Trevor Mingoia increasing his team lead in points with two on the night. He posted a goal and an assist in the win. John Gilmour and Brandon Tanev were the other goal scores for the Friars, while Gillies recorded his 11th career shutout.
"Cole was great and he gave us a chance," head coach Brian Riley said. "All we can ask for from our goalies is that they give us a chance to win and I thought he was just great tonight."
The Friars took the first lead of the game with 10:37 left in the opening frame as Mingoia put home a rebound in traffic. Bruns was able to make a couple of point-blank saves, but the puck found its way to Mingoia stick just above the crease and he jammed it home for his fifth of the season. Tom Parisi and Shane Luke were given the assists as they put the first two shots on Bruns during the sequence.
Bruns was the story for the Black Knights in the first as he pushed aside 17 shots with six coming late in the period when Army was on the penalty kill. It was a season high for saves in a period for Bruns.
Providence got the benefit of an early penalty call on Army and Gilmour fired a laser from the right point that went bar-down. Brian Pinho laid a perfect pass across the Black Knight defense and Gilmour let one go that beat Bruns on the glove side to give the Friars a 2-0 advantage, 29 seconds into the middle stanza.
Army had its best chance of the night up to 15:46 left in the second. Tyler Pham and Zak Zaremba broke into the Providence zone shorthanded with a 2-on-1 rush. Zaremba slipped the puck to Pham in the slot and he rang a one-timer off the post after beating Gillies with the shot. Less than two minutes later, Adams made it 3-0 in favor of the home team with his first of the season. He rushed up ice with a pair of Friars and instead of rushing the shot, he waited for traffic in front. Once the bodies caught up with Adams, he wristed a short-angle shot over the glove of Bruns for the three-goal advantage.
The Black Knights had a couple of scares in the third period with Shane Hearn somehow keeping the puck out of the net on a deflection that got by Bruns. The Friars looked to have gone up 4-0 with 8:45 remaining in the game with a shot from the point that got by Bruns, but the goal was immediately waved off for a Friar being in the crease. Joe Kozlak had a great chance with five minutes remaining on a shorthanded breakaway, but Gillies shut it down to keep the shutout.
"It was a 60-minute effort from our guys," Riley stated. "The last two times out we didn't play for 60 minutes and that was our primary focus coming into tonight. We knew if we didn't play a full game against a team like Providence, with NHL draft picks and one that is probably going to be in the NCAA Tournament, it was going to be a long night. I give our guys credit for battle hard all game long."
Army is back on the ice this coming weekend with a visit to Bentley for two games, beginning on Friday night. A reminder to fans that Saturday's game is a 5:05 p.m. start, instead of the originally scheduled start time earlier in the season.
Ice Shavings: This was the 29th meeting between Providence and Army, dating back to 1952 ... it was the 10th meeting on the Friars' home ice ... tonight's game is one of two non-conference games on the road for the Black Knights and one of two against Hockey East as UConn comes to Tate Rink on Jan. 9 ... Both Bruns and Parker Gahagen have 17 saves in a period this season ... Bruns had a career-high 43 saves and that is the highest total for an Army goaltender this season and most since Gahagen had 45 against Holy Cross on Feb. 28, 2014 ... the last time the Friars shutout the Black Knights was in 1971 with that coming as a 3-0 win as well.
