AMHERST - UMass goaltender Paul Dainton stood far outside his crease Saturday night, waiting for the go-ahead from hockey coach Don "Toot" Cahoon to come to the bench in a last-ditch effort to remain undefeated.

Will Ortiz hopped off the Minuteman bench, and found the puck waiting for him in the faceoff circle. His shot hit the post, much to the dismay of the Mullins Center crowd of 4,124 on Halloween.

The near-miss was typical of the UMass offense against Providence College in the second game of the weekend's home-and-home series. The 17th-ranked Minutemen had 48 shots, including 21 in the third period, but scored just once and fell 2-1 for their first loss of the season.

Friars sophomore goaltender Alex Beaudry registered 47 saves, a career high.

UMass (4-1, 3-1 Hockey East) came out looking like the superior team in the early going as the first two lines played a strong forechecking game.

But it was Providence (5-2, 1-1 Hockey East) which scored first on a slap shot by forward Kyle MacKinnon which he put past Dainton (26 saves) after 6 minutes, 15 seconds of play in the first period.

The Minutemen continued their strong play through the first period, with a 15-10 shot advantage, but were unable to score.

The second period was more of the same as UMass owned the puck, but the Friars tallied the only goal of the period.

Left wing Jordan Kremyr took a low shot on Dainton, and Matt Bergland slammed home the rebound on a backhand shot into the upper corner of the net at 10:53 for his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

The Minutemen picked up momentum when a delayed penalty was called on Providence defender Tim Smith for cross checking at 14:12 of the second period.

Junior forward James Marcou had a dominant power-play shift, staying on the ice the entire two minutes and getting several good scoring opportunities with line mates T.J. Syner and Casey Wellman.

"We were just trying to get shots and create plays," said Syner. "We cycled pretty well and were able to use our defenders well."

UMass again had a 12-11 shot advantage in the period.

The Minutemen finally scored 1:49 into the third after Friars defenseman Mark Fayne broke his stick. Syner stole the puck and drew a penalty on Fayne for using illegal equipment - his broken stick - in an attempt to slow Syner.

Sophomore defender Matt Irwin beat Beaudry on the power play, with assists by Marcou and Wellman.

"Irwin took a great shot," said Syner. "We were looking to get some good puck movement and there was some traffic out front and we managed to get one in. Our line played well and that was a big goal at the time to get us back in it."

It was the eighth straight game that Irwin has scored, dating back to last season.

The goal got UMass back in the game, and the Minutemen carried the play with several good scoring chances including two shots (by Ortiz and Michael Marcou) that hit the post in the final minutes but they were unable to beat Beaudry for a second time.

UMass, which remains in first place in Hockey East with six points, hosts Niagara at 7 p.m. Friday at the Mullins Center.

NOTES - The top Minuteman line of James Marcou, Syner and Wellman was dominant, owning the puck in the offensive zone, and forechecking well.

James Marcou now has two goals and nine assists.

The second line also was quite effective for UMass. Freshman Kevin Czepiel, playing in his second game, centered Ortiz and Danny Hobbs, with Shawn Saunders also seeing time on the left wing.