BABSON PARK, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team began a run of three consecutive games against nationally-ranked Division III squads with an 8-3 loss at Babson College on Friday evening during Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East play in the Babson Skating Center. The Purple Knights fell to 1-10-1 overall and 0-7-1 in the league, while the Beavers, who are ranked sixth in both national polls and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, are 12-3 and 6-2.

Junior AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College) and sophomore Kevin Altidor (Montreal, Quebec/Millbrook School) each notched a goal and an assist, while junior Jeremy Wong (Montreal, Quebec/Tilton School) also scored. Classmate William Côté (Quebec City, Quebec/Rice Memorial Prep) distributed two assists, while junior Dave Donzanti (West Chester, Pa./Northfield Mount Hermon) made 38 saves.

Junior Mike Driscoll (Milton, Mass./Boston Advantage) scored twice for Babson, first-year Tim Searles (Chesapeake, Va./Portland Pirates) had a goal and two assists, and seniors Shayne Anderson (Dorchester, Mass./Pomfret) and Matt O'Neill (Norwell, Mass./Boston Advantage) and junior Andrew Bonazza (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia/Valley Jr. Warriors) all posted a goal and an assist. Senior Nik Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass./Wesleyan) and first-year Bill Seligman (Toronto, Ontario/Lakeshore Patriots) also tallied, and sophomore Jamie Murray (Scituate, Mass./South Shore Kings) had 29 stops.

Donzanti faced eight shots in the opening seven-plus minutes of the first period, stopping them all, before O'Neill tallied at 8:39. However, Donzanti turned aside another four shots as the period continued on, and Pieprzak found the back of the net for the seventh time this season - and for the fourth time on a power play - with 48 seconds remaining in the stanza. Altidor and Côté assisted. Babson finished the period with a 13-8 advantage in shots, but the teams stood tied.

The hosts netted the next four goals, with Seligman scoring 2:47 into the second frame, Driscoll tallying on the power play with 10:51 gone, and Bonazza netting the eventual winner 4:14 later. Driscoll potted his second just 56 seconds into the third before the Purple Knights pushed back with the next two goals. Côté laid a pass back into the slot for Wong, who picked the upper left corner at 5:02, and Altidor back-handed a shot home from the right post just 1:51 later to produce a 5-3 margin. Junior Mark Higgins (Plainville, Mass./Bridgewater Bandits) lent the secondary assist on Wong's tally, while Pieprzak assisted Altidor. However, Babson pulled away with the final three goals during the closing 5:09 of the game, scoring twice in a 1:06 stretch before netting a power-play marker with eight seconds remaining.

The Purple Knights complete a two-game ECAC East road weekend set tomorrow versus the nationally-ranked University of Massachusetts at Boston at 4 p.m. UMass Boston is 15th in both Division III national polls.