Purple Knights outlast Penmen rally to advance to third NE-10 Championship in four years

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Contact: Tony Bonvechio – Phone: 802-654-2929

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Saint Michael's men's ice hockey team (11-14-1) topped Southern New Hampshire, 5-3, in Northeast-10 Conference Semifinal action at Cairns Arena on Wednesday. The Penmen (6-17-2) rallied with two goals in a penalty-laden third period, but the Purple Knights pulled away with an empty net goal with 34 seconds left and will look to win their third NE-10 Championship in the last four years.

For Saint Michael's, junior Reave MacKinnon (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Winnipeg Saints) had two goals and an assist, and classmate Brady Earle (Columbia, Md./The Gunnery School) posted a goal and a helper.

The Purple Knights snuffed the Penmen offense in the first period and prevented SNHU from taking a single shot on goal. Earle wasted no time getting Saint Michael's on the board, and potted a goal 58 seconds in after MacKinnon took advantage of a Penmen player's broken stick and fed Earle a pass on a 2-on-1 breakaway. The two would connect again in the ninth minute, this time with Earle feeding MacKinnon for a point-blank delayed-penalty wrist shot goal.

Freshman Rich Rodeschini (Hopewell Jct., N.Y./Canterbury School) made it 3-0 early in the second period when he flushed a rebound from sophomore Josh Geary (Wellesley, Mass./Phillips Andover Academy), and MacKinnon tallied goal number two by deflecting Earle's pass from the right wing as he cruised through two defenders into the crease. The Penmen avoided the shutout, however, with a shorthanded goal after junior Doug Boulanger (Beauport, Quebec/Quebec Assurexperts) nabbed a Purple Knight passed at the blue line and skated in for a breakaway goal.

SNHU clawed back within a goal by way of two extra-man goals in the third period. Senior Adam Ziegler (Medford, Mass./Saint Anselm) deposited a rebound goal after Saint Michael's sophomore goalie Mike Dizgun (Kirkland, Quebec/OCN Blizzard) couldn't hold on to the puck long enough for a whistle. Junior Frank O'Connor (Arlington, Mass./South Kent School) then tallied another goal as the Penmen were sans-goalie, but a slew of post-goal penalties gave the Purple Knights a last-minute power play. Sophomore Michael Jangro (Reading, Mass./Valley Warriors) put the game away with a steal at the red line and an empty net goal with 34 seconds left.

Dizgun stopped 18-of-21 shots on the night for Saint Michael's, and Penmen freshman goalie Tyler Holske (Attleboro, Mass./South Shore Kings) made a whopping 57 saves.

The Purple Knights advance to the NE-10 Championship on Saturday, when they will take on second-seeded Saint Anselm College at 3 p.m. Saint Michael's will look to win its first league title since 2009 and third championship since 2008.

GAME SUMMARY

                                    1          2          3          Total

Southern N.H.              0          1          2          3         

Saint Michael's            2          2          1          5

SCORING

First Period: 1. STM, Earle (MacKinnon, Sheehan), 00:58. 2. STM, MacKinnon (Earle), 9:54.

Second Period: 3. STM, Rodeschini (Geary), 4:02. 4. STM, MacKinnon (Earle), 7:16. 5. SNH, Boulanger (Shalna), 12:02.

Third Period:  6. SNH, Ziegler (O'Connor, Pascucci), 14:17. 7. SNH, O'Connor (Bryant, Ziegler), 19:13. 8. STM, Jangro (Rigtrup, Belmore), 19:26.

Shots on Goal: SNH (0 – 10 – 11 – 21), STM (28 – 24 – 10 – 62)                                                                                     

Saves: SNU, Holske (57 saves), 58:04. STM, Dizgun (18 saves), 59:54.

-PURPLEKNIGHTS-