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Providence and Brown will get together for the 28th annual Mayor's Cup on Saturday night at Schneider Arena. The heavily favored Friars are 15-9-3 in the battle of bragging rights for Rhode Island's capital city.
Brown comes into the game carrying the burden of a three-game losing streak. Brendan Whittet's team lost twice last weekend at Cornell and Colgate, 5-1 and 3-1, respectively.
Since winning the Liberty Hockey Invitational the first weekend of the season Brown is 1-5-1, but the Bears have had to battle some injuries. When healthy, the first line has an extremely dangerous trio of Matt Lorito, Mark Naclerio and Nick Lappin. Combined, the three players account for 13 of the team's 25 goals scored.
Senior Marco De Filippo is the likely starter in net for the Bears who last won the Mayor's Cup two seasons ago when they downed Providence, 5-2.
Providence enters tonight's game against its cross-town rival after a 3-3 tie at Quinnipiac on Wednesday night. Nate Leaman's team is rolling in his third season at the helm on Huxley Ave.
Junior forward Ross Mauermann is having a breakout season in his third year at PC. The Janesville, Wis. native has 12 goals and eight assists after only registering 24 points all of last season. Calgary Flames draft pick Mark Jankowski has seven goals on the season and has been a human highlight reel at times.
As always, sophomore goaltender Jon Gillies is a difference maker between the pipes for the Friars. The South Portland, Maine native is 9-1-2 with a 1.79 goals against average and a .945 save percentage.
The Friars won last season's Mayor's Cup, 7-0, at Meehan Auditorium. Defenseman Kevin Hart had a big game with a goal and three assists while Gillies stopped all 35 shots he faced for the shutout.
Jeff Cox covers college and junior hockey, NCAA recruiting, NHL Draft prospects and the AHL for SBNation. Follow him on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.