ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Freshman Chris Alexander scored two goals and added three assists for the JWU (Providence) men's ice hockey team in a 5-2 win over UMass Boston Friday night in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action at the New England Sports Village.

Seniors Brent Rickett tallied a goal and two assists, and Brendan Shandley added two assists for the Wildcats, who would advance to the conference playoffs as the No. 8 seed with a win tomorrow against the Beacons coupled with a loss by VTSU Castleton at Elmira. The win was also the first in 15 all-time meetings with UMass Boston, dating back to 1999; the Wildcats entered the contest 0-14-0 lifetime with the rivals from 'The Bay State.'

JWU broke out of its scoring slump on the power play, converting on three of its seven changes with the extra man while killing off all eight UMB PP opportunities. Senior Jaxon Friedman stood on his head all night for head coach Eric Graham, finishing the night with 41 saves – including 17 in the first period when his team was outshot 17-4.

Alexander scored the only goal of the first period on the PP at 12:14 to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Goals from Rickett and sophomore Davis Bone bookended a UMB tally and in the second sent the Wildcats to the third with a 3-1 lead.

In the third, Freeman's wrister from the point found the back of the net at 7:05 and pushed the lead to 4-1. After the Beacons got to within two with a goal at 12:49, Friedman slammed the door, finishing the stanza with 12 saves. Alexander iced the win with an empty-netter at 19:00.

Prior to the start of the contest, JWU honored seniors Rickett, Shandley, Friedman, Hayden Haldane, Carter Elrod, Ryo Namiki, Noel Parker, Declan Dennehy, Maxime Dumas, Zach Robbins for their contributions to the program.