PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Providence College needed barely 15 minutes Saturday night to put away UMass Lowell, piling up five first-period goals in a 5-2 Hockey East win at Schneider Arena that finished a weekend sweep and kept the Friars perfect at 5-0.
It is the first time the program has opened a season with five straight wins since 2002-03, according to the school. Providence, ranked seventh and ninth in the two national polls, is 2-0 in league play and has outscored its opponents 21-6.
The goals came in a rush. John Mustard scored at 1:42, freshman Ryder Cali at 7:28, Will Elger at 9:29 off a rebound of a Mustard shot, Cali for a second time at 13:13, and Kivioja, alone in the slot after a forced turnover, finished the burst at 15:09. Cali’s second goal was first waved off for goaltender interference before a Providence challenge put it back on the board. Lowell pulled its starting goalie after the fifth goal.
The River Hawks scored on a late power play in the first period and again 59 seconds into the second, but the Friars’ lead never felt in danger even as Lowell pushed the pace over the final two periods. Mustard finished with a goal and two assists, his second career three-point night. Tanner Adams set up the Kivioja goal, and Logan Sawyer assisted on Cali’s first. Lowell’s backup goalie, Cole Moore, stopped all 12 shots he faced in relief.
Goalie Jack Parsons stopped 24 of 26 shots. A night earlier at Tsongas Arena in Lowell, he made 30 saves, a season high, in a 3-0 shutout, his second of the season. Parsons is 4-0 with a .966 save percentage.
Providence visits top-10 Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn., on Saturday, Oct. 31, with a noon start.
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