Purple Knights surrender early two-goal lead to nationally-ranked Ephs 

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Contact: Tony Bonvechio - Phone: 802.654.2929

Brendan Rimmer stopped all 17 shots he faced in the first period, and 36 in the contest (pic by Shane Bufano).

Box Score: http://www.smcathletics.com/sports/mice/2010-11/files/mwilstm.htm.

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Saint Michael's College men's hockey team (8-10-1, 5-8-1 ECAC East) sprinted out to an early 2-0 lead, but Williams rallied for five straight goals to power the nationally-ranked Ephs past the Purple Knights at Cairns Arena on Friday night.

Senior Matt Rigtrup (Montclair, N.J./Pickering Panthers) jump started the Saint Michael's offense five minutes into the game with a tight wrist shot from straight away after senior Fran Briand (South Burlington, Vt./Loomis Chaffee School) drew the defense in and flicked a pass while taking a body check in the open ice, leaving Rigtrup wide open.

The Purple Knights then survived 90 seconds of a tense 5-on-3 disadvantage, killing the penalty with numerous key saves by senior goalie Brendan Rimmer (Newbury, Mass./Pingree School), who turned away all 17 Ephs shots in the first period. Sophomore Justin Castagna (Los Altimos, Calif./Los Angeles Kings) then doubled the Saint Michael's lead with a forehand flip after Rigtrup and senior Alex Higgins (Phoenix, Ariz./Kent School) worked lightning-fast passes around the power play formation.

The Ephs then used consecutive power play goals by sophomore Eric Rubino (Woodbridge, Ontario/Saint Michael's (Ontario)) to tie the game at 2-all before senior Matt Masucci (Winthrop, Mass./Salisbury School) added a goal to take a 3-2 lead heading into the final period.

Williams battened down the hatches in the third period and not only emerged unscathed from a 5-minute major disadvantage, but also scored a short-handed goal by way of a junior Stephen Maier (Orange, Conn./Hotchkiss) breakaway. Maier stole an errant pass at the blue line and dashed into the Saint Michael's zone before using a quick fake to open the right side of the net for the easy score. The Ephs then outlasted the remaining penalty time, and sophomore Evan Dugdale (Glastonbury, Conn./Deerfield Academy) pounded home a rebound to make the final score 5-2.

For Saint Michael's, Rimmer stopped 36-of-41 shots against the Ephs. For Williams, senior goalie Ryan Purdy (La Jolla, Calif./Exeter) earned the win, made 21 saves and didn't allow a goal after replacing freshman Sean Donnelly (White Rock, B.C./Williams Lake Timberwolves) after the first period.

The Purple Knights return to action tomorrow when they host in-state rival Middlebury at 4 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY

                                    1          2          3          Total
Williams                      0          3          2          5                    
Saint Michael's            2          0          0          2         

SCORING

First Period: 1. STM, Rigtrup (Briand, C. MacDonald), 4:59. 2. STM, Castagna (Higgins, Rigtrup), 18:36.

Second Period: 3. WIL, Rubino (Lyons, Troiani), 00:52. 4. WIL, Rubino (Malchoff, Contini), 8:01. 5. WIL, Masucci (Olvany), 18:45.

Third Period: 6. WIL, Maier, 9:17. 7. WIL, Dugdale (Contini, Malchoff), 14:47.

Shots on Goal: WIL (17 – 11 – 13 – 41), STM (6 – 9 – 12 – 27)                                                                                       

Saves: WIL, Donnelly (4 saves), 20:00; Purdy (21 saves), 40:00. SMC, Rimmer (36 saves), 60:00.

-PURPLEKNIGHTS-