{"id":70873,"date":"2016-03-25T21:42:28","date_gmt":"2016-03-26T02:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=70873"},"modified":"2016-03-25T21:42:28","modified_gmt":"2016-03-26T02:42:28","slug":"providences-bid-for-a-repeat-title-sees-sudden-ending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2016\/03\/25\/providences-bid-for-a-repeat-title-sees-sudden-ending\/","title":{"rendered":"Providence’s bid for a repeat title sees sudden ending"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Minnesota-Duluth celebrates Karson Kuhlman’s double-overtime goal against Providence on Friday (phtoo: Melissa Wade).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WORCESTER, Mass.<\/b> — In the 10 years after Denver won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2004 and 2005, only four defending champions were able to earn a return trip to the tournament.<\/p>\n

Not one reached the Frozen Four.<\/p>\n

[scg_html_ne2016]In two of the four “successful” years, the defending champs got bounced in the first round (Boston College in 2011 and 2013). In the other two, the champs earned a first-round victory but couldn’t get any farther (Michigan State in 2008 and Minnesota-Duluth in 2012).<\/p>\n

The cumulative scores in those four season-ending games: 20-6.<\/p>\n

Such was the challenge facing the Providence Friars this year. They weren’t just the Friars. They were the defending national champion Providence Friars. And with that came the bull’s-eye.<\/p>\n

They’d suffered the early defections to the pros that are part and parcel of playing games in the national spotlight. Those were no small losses: All-American goaltender Jon Gillies and second-leading scorer Noel Acciari.<\/p>\n

But this year’s Friars earned not only a chance to defend their title in the NCAA tournament, they seized the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Regional.<\/p>\n

In the end, it wasn’t enough.<\/p>\n

They took their first-round game into double overtime and had their chances, including a clanged post in the first OT. But much like their triple-overtime loss a week earlier to Massachusetts-Lowell in the Hockey East semifinal, it wasn’t enough.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t enough that Nick Ellis, who so ably replaced Gillies in the Providence nets this season, stopped a Northeast Regional record 54 shots.<\/p>\n

Records don’t matter when the other team is throwing its sticks and gloves into the air in celebration while your own heart sinks.<\/p>\n

The agony of the 2-1 double-overtime loss to Minnesota-Duluth on Friday contrasted with the euphoria of a year ago.<\/p>\n

“It’s two opposite ends of the spectrum, winning the national championship and then getting knocked out,” senior forward Kevin Rooney said. “You know you have a team in the locker room that could have done it. It’s just disappointing.”<\/p>\n

The Friars gave credit to Duluth but felt their own play had come up short.<\/p>\n

“It’s very simple,” Providence coach Nate Leaman said. “We didn’t have our A game tonight and we got beat by a better team.”<\/p>\n

It was a bitter pill to swallow for champions who had worn their crown with pride and dignity. But like their 10 predecessors, they came up short.<\/p>\n

Leaman, however, remained beaten but unbowed.<\/p>\n

“I’m proud of this team in a lot of ways,” he said. “I’m proud of their hearts tonight. They didn’t have their heads or their legs, but I was really proud of their hearts and how they battled.<\/p>\n

“It was a tough season being national champions because you know you’re getting everyone’s A game. I was really proud of how they handled the season.<\/p>\n

“But this time of year, it’s going to be a bounce one way or another way.”<\/p>\n

And this year, unlike last year, the bounce went the other way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They weren’t just the Friars. They were the defending national champion Providence Friars. And with that came the bull’s-eye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[763],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nProvidence's bid for a repeat title sees sudden ending - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"They weren't just the Friars. They were the defending national champion Providence Friars. 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