PROVIDENCE, R.I. – It had all the makings of a disastrous hockey weekend for the University of Maine Black Bears. Maine lost to Providence College 7-4 on Friday night and trailed 3-1 early in the third period of Saturday afternoon’s game.

The Bears needed a spark and a play that had been tried successfully in practice resulted in the Brian Downey power-play goal that gave the Bears that spark which sent them on their way to an important 4-3 win.

Maine is now 25-7-2 overall and moved into second place in Hockey East with its 12-5-1 mark. Providence is now 19-6-2 (9-6-2).

The Downey goal came 3:21 into the final period; Martin Mercier tied it four minutes later and Downey got the game-winner with 7:46 remaining.

Downey’s first goal came when Jim Montgomery passed the puck to Brian Straub at the right point.

Straub slipped the puck down to Downey at the left post and he deflected it between the pads of Friar goalie Brad Mullahy.

“That had worked for us in practice and it worked again,” said Downey. “He (Mullahy) had to play Brian’s shot and when he started to come over towards me, I knew he’d have to open up his legs and I tapped it between them.”

“I never saw him (Downey),” said Mullahy. “That goal gave them a lot of momentum. They were all over us after that.”

“That goal really picked us up,” said Maine junior center Mike Barkley. “After that, we were like a train going downhill.”

Mercier’s tying goal was set up by Steve Tepper, who chased down his own missed shot in the corner.

“There was a guy on Martin but then that guy looked at the puck so I poked it to Martin,” said Tepper.

“Their guy went to the front of the net and when he turned around to the opposite side, I came out of the corner,” said Mercier, who cut in all alone. “I took a backhander and it went between his legs.”

“I moved across with him but I thought he was going to pass it,” said Mullahy. “His shot hit my pads and went in.”

Downey’s game-winner followed a couple of nice saves by Maine goalie Garth Snow.

Montgomery dove and poked it to Jean-Yves Roy, who skated out of the zone with Downey on a two-on-two.

Roy gave the puck to Downey at center ice and, after Downey crossed the blue line, Roy skated toward the front of the net.

“I cut across (from right to left) and took a wrist shot and it went in,” said Downey.

“I never saw it,” said Mullahy.

Maine had opened the scoring just 42 seconds into the game when freshman defenseman Matt Martin’s high-screened drive from the right point beat Mullahy.

Providence took a 2-1 lead with goals just 1:20 apart later in the period as Brian McCarthy swept home the rebound of a chest-high Bob Creamer drive and Mario Aube intercepted a Tony Link pass and blasted a 35-footer into the far corner.

Providence made it 3-1 in the second period when Lyle Wildgoose scored on the power play, taking a Rob Gaudreau pass and jamming home his own fourth rebound.

Snow made 13 saves in the second period and Maine Coach Shawn Walsh said, “Garth kept us in the game.”

He made five more in the third period, including a couple in the final 3:32 when the Bears killed off a penalty and the extra attacker.

“This was a great come-from-behind win,” said Walsh. “A lot of teams wouldn’t have been able to do what we did, coming from behind on the second day of a two-game road series in front of a sellout crowd (3,030) and then killing off a penalty with three minutes to go.”

Black Bears 4, Friars 3

Maine 1 0 3 – 4 Providence 2 1 0 – 3

First period – 1. Maine, Martin 2 (Salfi, Barkley), 0:42; 2. PC, McCarthy 5 (Creamer), 12:07; 3. PC, Aube 10 (unassisted), 13:27; Penalties – Maine, Snow, high-sticking (served by Tomberlin), 2:16; PC, Wildgoose, hitting after the whistle, 2:16; PC, Cowan, holding, 18:12.

Second period – 4. PC, Wildgoose 19 (Gaudreau, Boback), 10:09; Penalties – Maine, Link, holding, 2:30; Maine, Murphy, playing without a helmet, 8:35; PC, Aube, slashing, 11:26; PC, Wildgoose, elbowing, 15:52; Maine, Straub, tripping, 17:27; PC, bench minor for too many men on the ice (served by Madigan), 19:31.

Third period – 5. Maine, Downey 23 (Straub, Montgomery), 3:21; 6. Maine, Mercier 9 (Tepper), 7:31; 7. Maine, Downey 24 (Roy), 12:14; Penalties – PC, Wildgoose, slashing, 1:34; Maine, Mercier, boarding, 16:28; PC, Wildgoose, 10-minute misconduct, 19:23.

Shots on goal: Maine 7-9-14-30; Providence 10-14-5-29

Goaltenders: Maine, Garth Snow; Providence, Brad Mullahy

Attendance: 3,030