BOSTON, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team grabbed an early three-goal lead at nationally-ranked University of Massachusetts at Boston on Saturday before the Beacons rallied for a 6-4 victory in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East action at the Clark Athletic Center Ice Rink. The Purple Knights slipped to 1-11-1 overall and 0-8-1 in the league, while the Beacons extended their unbeaten streak to 13 games and winning stretch to 10 contests while improving to 12-1-2 and 5-1-2. UMass Boston is ranked 15th in both national polls and downed No. 5 Norwich University last night.

Sophomore Kevin Altidor (Montreal, Quebec/Millbrook School) totaled a goal and two assists for the visitors, as he now has 10 points in the last five games. Junior William Côté (Quebec City, Quebec/Rice Memorial Prep) had a goal and a helper, classmate Jeremy Wong (Montreal, Quebec/Tilton School) scored and won 17 face-offs, and first-year defenseman Stephen Inman (Coventry, R.I./Odessa Jackalopes) netted a short-handed marker for his first college goal. Junior AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College) and first-year defender Danny Divis (Media, Pa./The Gunnery) both contributed two assists. Sophomore Michael Comitini (Hudson, Quebec/Cornwall Colts) turned in 20 saves. Saint Michael's outshot UMass Boston, 37-26.

Senior Travis Daniel (North Brunswick, N.J./New Jersey Rockets) scored twice as one of five Beacon goal scorers, while classmate Michael Kuhn (Holbrook, Mass./Boston Bulldogs), sophomore Jeremy Finger (Orlando, Fla./Austin Bruins) and first-year Mike Maciag (Plymouth, Mich./Coquitlam Express) all provided a goal and an assist. After sophomore Zach Andrews (Coral Springs, Fla./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) made 13 first-period saves but faced a 4-1 deficit by the first intermission, classmate Billy Faust (Alta Loma, Calif./Vermont) had 20 stops while playing shutout hockey for the final 40 minutes.

Maciag tallied 8:32 into the game to put the hosts ahead before Saint Michael's scored the next four in a 7:49 span. Inman scored his short-handed marker at 10:30 on assists by Altidor and senior Ryan Arsenault (Reading, Mass./New Hampton School) before Côté netted the go-ahead goal at 13:05 on a power play. Altidor and Divis assisted. Wong won the ensuing face-off, and just 10 seconds after Côté found the back of the net, Wong made it 3-1 thanks to passes by Divis and Pieprzak. Altidor completed the first-period surge with a power-play goal at 18:19, with Côté and Pieprzak dishing helpers.

After the Purple Knights held a 17-8 advantage in shots during the opening 20 minutes, they claimed a narrow 20-18 edge during the remainder of the contest. Saint Michael's nearly blanked UMass Boston in the second stanza until Daniel recorded a power-play marker at 15:55 and Kuhn notched a short-handed goal 1:40 later, and the visitors saw their lead trimmed to 4-3 by the second intermission. Daniel knotted the game 3:50 into the third period, and Finger scored exactly two minutes later for the power-play game-winner. Saint Michael's killed a late penalty, but just eight seconds after it ended, junior Nathan Milam (Westland, Mich./Ferris State) scored at 19:18 to clinch the UMass Boston victory.

The Purple Knights are at No. 5 Norwich on Friday at 7 p.m. to complete a season home-and-home series. The Cadets have advanced at least as far as the semifinal round of the past four NCAA Division III Tournaments.