MANCHESTER, N.H. - The fourth-seeded Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team yielded only a first-period goal before falling to No.1 Saint Anselm College, 1-0, in a Northeast-10 Conference Tournament semifinal on Saturday at Sullivan Arena.

During a rematch of last year's NE-10 Tournament championship game, the Purple Knights finished the season at 6-18-2, while the Hawks improved to 13-8-5 and advanced to the championship game to play No 3 Stonehill College. This was the teams' eighth postseason meeting in the past 13 winters. Saint Michael's had advanced to three of the past four NE-10 Tournament title games, two of which had been against Saint Anselm.

While making his third straight start, junior Eric McGuirk (Rehoboth, Mass./Bridgewater Bandits) turned aside 29 shots during his first postseason outing. Of McGuirk's saves, 26 came in the opening two periods prior to the Purple Knights holding a 17-3 advantage in shots during the third stanza.

Hawk junior Mike Richard (Derry, N.H./New England Huskies) tallied the lone goal 8:58 into the game, while sophomore Robert Kang (Glen Rock, N.J./Tabor Academy) stopped 32 shots.

The Hawks took a 1-0 lead after Richard scored off of a dish from freshman Johnny Daniels (Andover, Mass./Valley Junior Warriors). McGuirk turned aside 14 shots in the first period to keep it a one-goal game before making 12 more saves in the second.

During the final period, the Purple Knights drew a power-play opportunity with fewer than eight minutes remaining, but their lone shot with the man advantage was denied by Kang. With McGuirk pulled for the final minute, the visitors fired off three shots, only one of which made it on net, as the final attempt was blocked by a Hawk skater, and Saint Anselm wound down the clock.

ADDENDUM: Following the championship game on March 2, McGuirk was named to the NE-10 Tournament All-Tournament team.