April 23, 2008

Final Stats

Providence, RI - The Providence College Friars improved to 6-1 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play with a 12-3 victory tonight over a gritty Wagner team that held the edge in several major statistical categories.

After falling behind 2-0 midway through the first quarter, the Seahawks put together a two-goal burst of their own. With 6:09 remaining in the quarter, senior attackman Evan Shull (Port Jefferson Station, NY/ Comsewogue) got Wagner on the board off an assist from sophomore midfielder Sean Travis (Calverton, NY/ Riverhead). Junior midfielder Brian Poissant (Manlius, NY/ Fayetteville-Manlius) then tied the game with an unassisted goal at the 1:51 mark of the opening quarter.

From there, the game turned in Providence's favor as the Friars scored the next 10 goals of the game to put the game out of reach. Poissant notched the final goal of the game and his second on the evening off a Travis assist with 3:04 left in the game.

Bennett Murphy led Providence with three goals and dished out two assists while Bobby Labadini added two goals. Wagner actually out-shot the Friars 33-27, led in ground balls by a 37-33 count and won 10-of-19 faceoffs. Sophomore goalie Matthew McVie (Westbury, NY/ Archbishop Carroll), making his third consecutive start, recorded 11 seven saves while Robert Bryan and Frank Cicero combined to save 11 shots.

This was a hard-fought tussle as the teams committed 12 penalties combined, including unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on Providence in the final 2:40.

Wagner fell to 0-13, 0-7 in the MAAC while the Friars improved to 6-7 overall. The Seahawks are next in action on Saturday when they travel to MAAC rival Marist in a 1:00 pm faceoff.