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By Al Daniel

(reprinted from The Cowl)

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PROVIDENCE, RI -- Providence College women's hockey Coach Bob Deraney could not stress it enough: statistically speaking, the implications of last weekend's 7-4 exhibition loss to McGill University will accumulate like a fallen snowflake in 50-degree weather.

In recent years, the Friars have habitually tuned up for the regular season by scrimmaging-and battering-a younger squad from the Ontario-based Provincial Women's League, then proceeded to undergo a wake-up call after games began to matter. As a consequence, they have not had a winning start to their season since 2004-05.

Hence Deraney's decision to enlist the McGill Martlets, the two-time defending Canadian Interuniversity national champions, in hopes of letting that wake-up call sink in before his pupils plunge into their NCAA slate.

There was a time -namely three separate times in 1981, 1985, and 2003- when the Friars would encounter and annihilate the Montreal-based program. Between those first three meetings, PC had won by a cumulative score of 24-0.

No more. Over the six-year interlude since their last visit here, the Martlets have mutated into a Canadian answer to the three-way American dynasty between Minnesota, University of Minnesota at Duluth, and Wisconsin; which only made them all the more an ideal opponent for a game designed to be a risk-free learning experience.

"McGill's a very good team, and if you did the research on our record against them, it's a much different team than they've ever had before," said Deraney after he watched a 3-1 advantage devolve into an eventual 7-4 shortcoming all within the third period.

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"They've got a terrific coaching staff that's attracted a lot of great players. That was a really good test for us and that was the idea. I wanted to see what our weaknesses were.

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"I think [this game] told us a lot and now we've got some concrete things to work on. I know we can play a lot better, but we also had some spurts where we played really well and executed the way we wanted to."

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Those spurts came in the form of two second period power play conversions, which spawned a 2-0 jumpstart. Reigning top rookie and top goaltender in Hockey East Genevieve Lacasse, pushing away 27 of 28 shots faced in the first two periods while her teammates sculpted the initial 3-1 edge. It also came from fellow sophomore Laura Veharanta, the top gun on last year's scoring chart, punching in two goals and an assist, while classmate and linemate Ashley Cottrell, an established playmaker, was credited with two assists.

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The encouragement peaked within the final four minutes of the middle frame when Veharanta forwarded a breakout feed to Cottrell, effectively sending her off on a two-on-one break with junior Jean O'Neill. O'Neill, whose progression as a natural scorer was sidetracked by injuries last season, would absorb a crisp cross-ice feed from Cottrell and roof it over goaltender Gabrielle Smith's blocker to grant Providence a 3-0 advantage.

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But within precisely one minute, the tables turned as the Martlets hopped on board via Rebecca Martindale. And on the other side of the second intermission, a short bench caught up to the Friars, who were missing a total of five bodies due to injury and thus confined to a mere 15 skaters.
"It's a big factor, especially at this time of year," said Deraney of the short bench. "But you have what you have, you get out there, and I think it adds to our conditioning, our mental toughness, and stamina. You've got to learn how to play when you're fatigued."

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Naturally, though, last Saturday's affair was a taxing tutoring session. As McGill's long-hushed stick rack began to thaw out, PC felt its power and patience run dry. The Martlets would usurp the lead on three unanswered goals within the first 6:05 of the final period, after which the Friars took three unanswered penalties and in turn allowed two insurance strikes.
Still, better to let it happen then as opposed to, say, tomorrow night's Hockey East icebreaker versus Maine.

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"Believe me, I'm not very happy with the result, but I'm proud of the effort," Deraney concluded.

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