COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's tennis team suffered its first defeat of the season on Saturday, dropping a 9-0 decision to regionally-ranked Stonehill College during a Northeast-10 Conference match in the Tarrant Recreation Center. The Purple Knights slipped to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the league, while the Skyhawks are 2-0 and 2-0. Stonehill is 10th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East poll.

The hosts opened the match with a trio of doubles losses, as their No. 1 tandem came the closest to earning a victory. Junior Chris Moskal (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) and sophomore Nick Bosco (Glastonbury, Conn./East Catholic) yielded a narrow 9-7 triumph to their Stonehill counterparts.

Four of the singles matches included at least one slim set victory for the Skyhawks. Bosco rallied to tie freshman Eric Ringstad (Fairbanks, Alaska/Monroe) at No. 1 before falling, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, while senior Brian Healey (Ware, Mass./Belchertown) played a pair of close sets during an eventual 7-5, 6-4 loss at three. Senior Sam Cieplicki (South Burlington, Vt./New Hampton School) fell in a first-set tie-breaker during a 7-6 (9-7), 6-1 setback at two, while Moskal put together a strong opening set before coming up short, 7-5, 6-1, at No. 4.

The Purple Knights are at Assumption College tomorrow for a 1 p.m. NE-10 match.