GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The #3 University of Providence men's hockey team will host a highly-anticipated matchup on Friday when they take on #4 Montana State in the Great Falls Plex at 7:00 p.m. The team will then complete the series with a 7:00 road game against the squad in Bozeman.
Friday's game will also double as senior night for the seven seniors who make up the inaugural recruiting class for the program.
"It's two teams that are ranked highly," head coach
Jeff Heimel said. "The opportunity is always there to move up potentially. There's a lot at stake. You don't show up and the next thing you know you get leapfrogged. We have to be ready to go and ready to take it seriously. All that combined with the general rivalry of the game, there will be very little need for conversations with the guys to be up and ready for the game."
The two teams split their series earlier in the year; the Argos (7-4)
defeated the Bobcats (14-7) 3-0 in Great Falls
before falling 7-3 in Bozeman.
"They have good forwards," Heimel said. "We've got to squash their ability to run all over the place and make plays on us. We did that well during the opening series of the last game we played. But as evidenced in the second game of that series, if you let their forwards loose, you don't defend well and you don't stick to that game plan, they can score some goals on you. It's one of those things where we have to take care of the middle of the ice."
The night will also feature a special senior day presentation for the seven seniors on the squa;
Levi Anderson,
Leo Felt,
Jacob Fry,
Erik Gatson,
Gabe Kwiatkowski,
Reed Link and
Kyler Mack will all be honored by the program. The seven seniors mark the first full recruiting class for the program, which is currently in their fourth year.
"I'm really excited to honor them," Heimel said. "It's bittersweet. You think about everything that it takes and took to start a hockey program. You've got to bring in guys who are blindly buying into your vision. This was a group that was a part of that. This group has a special nature to them because of their impact on starting this hockey program. Friday is for sure going to be an emotional night. I'm excited to celebrate with them, their families and the fans."
