SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team finished its first-semester slate on Saturday with a 6-2 loss to the State University of New York at Potsdam at Cairns Arena, taking on the Bears for the second time in as many days. The Purple Knights are 0-9-1, while SUNY Potsdam is 4-6-1.

Senior Madelena Santore (Millington, N.J./New Jersey Rockets) and junior Darah Thomas (Amherst, Mass./UMass Boston) both scored for Saint Michael's, with Thomas' goal the first of her career. Junior Erin Stevens (Watertown, Conn./Connecticut Polar Bears) made 35 saves, as the hosts were outshot only 41-36.

Sophomore Jessica Silveira (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) paced SUNY Potsdam with two goals and an assist, while classmate Jenn Crawford (Burlington, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres) also scored twice. Senior Caitlin Manahan (Saint Albans, Vt./Elmira) picked up a goal and an assist, and junior Katie Komsa (Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario/Sault Sainte Marie AA Midget) also tallied. Junior Jen Conophy (Glenmont, N.Y./Albany Ice Cats) made 34 saves.

SUNY Potsdam fired off five shots in the opening minute of the contest, including one hitting the right post, and Stevens made 16 stops in the period, including the 1,000th of her career. The visitors got on the board at 10:43, with Crawford tallying on a power play, skating unmarked in front of the net to jump on a loose puck and fire a point-blank shot past Stevens. The goalie came up with a trio of stops in the final 10 seconds, including slapping her left glove hand on a puck sliding into the crease toward an open net as she was sliding toward the opposite post.

Santore rang a shot off the left post from a bad angle early in the second period before being stopped on a breakaway but being hooked down, providing her team a power play. Sophomore Courtney Burnett (Deep River, Ontario/Northwood School) nearly knotted the game on the ensuing extra-woman opportunity, being stopped on a close-range shot at the left post.

At 11:58, a similar scenario to Santore's played out, as sophomore Macey Thomas (Amherst, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) stole the puck at mid-ice before being hooked on a breakaway, leading to her team drawing a power play. At 10:04, her sister, Darah Thomas, blasted home the tying goal off assists from juniors Melissa Coughlin (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) and Laura Levin (Hingham, Mass./Hingham). The hosts nearly captured the lead soon thereafter, with a Purple Knight picking up a rebound off a save but pushed a shot wide.

SUNY Potsdam grabbed the lead right back with 11:53 remaining, as Manahan tallied the go-ahead marker, corralling the rebound after a Stevens stop, and Crawford made it 3-1 at 18:51 on a power play. Santore picked off a pass just beyond her team's blue line early in the third period and tallied on a breakaway, making it 3-2 just 34 seconds into the period. However, Silveira responded at 3:50 at 7:37, and Komsa produced the final margin with 1:31 to go in regulation.

The Purple Knights host their two-day SMC Holiday Classic on Dec. 30-31, first facing Colby College at 7 p.m. on Dec. 30.