SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team snapped a five-game losing streak with a 7-1 win against the University of Southern Maine in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East action at Cairns Arena on Friday. The Purple Knights move to 2-13-1 overall and 1-9-1 in the league, while the Huskies drop to 4-9-5 overall and 3-7-2. The victory was the second of the year for Saint Michael's against Southern Maine, and the third contest between the teams.

Purple Knight first-year defenseman Danny Divis (Media, Pa./The Gunnery) tallied two goals and an assist, while junior AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College) registered one goal and two assists. Junior Eric Robinson (Williston, Vt./Berkshire School) and sophomore Kevin Altidor (Montreal, Quebec/Millbrook School) tallied a goal and an assist, while junior Jeremy Wong (Montreal, Quebec/Tilton School) and first-year Josh Dickman (Kapaa, Hawaii/Saint Paul's School) also scored. Junior defenseman Mark Higgins (Plainville, Mass./Bridgewater Bandits) collected two assists. Sophomore goalie Michael Comitini (Hudson, Quebec/Cornwall Colts) earned his first college win with 16 saves in 56:21 of work, while classmate Derek McInnis (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) saw 2:45 of play in his college debut.

Sophomore Zach Dymock (Dutton, Ontario/National Sports Academy) scored the lone Southern Maine goal, with junior Ryan Seward (Port Jefferson, N.Y./New York Bobcats) and sophomore Alex Pompeo (Hingham, Mass./Bridgton Academy) assisting on the tally. Sophomore goalie Josh Hillegas (Middleton, Wis./New England Huskies) made 28 saves on 35 shots for the Huskies.

Robinson started the Purple Knights' scoring early when he fired a shot top shelf over Hillegas' right shoulder just 21 seconds into the game for the first goal of his college career. Wong then extended the lead when his one-timer found the back of the net on the power play at 16:36 off of Robinson's cross-ice pass.

Southern Maine cut the lead in half when Dymock flipped a back-handed shot over Comitini's blocker at 1:40 of the second period following a giveaway in the Saint Michael's defensive end. However, just 1:19 later, Higgins connected with a streaking Altidor, who snapped a shot high blocker side on Hillegas. The Huskies had a chance to draw within one when Pompeo rang a shot off the post at 13:35, and Pieprzak countered by giving Saint Michael's a 4-1 lead 10 seconds later.

The Purple Knights tacked on three power-play goals in the third period. With the puck low in the offensive zone, junior William Côté (Quebec, City, Quebec/Rice Memorial Prep) dished a pass to Divis, who scored on an uncontested shot from the slot at 8:42. Just 1:04 later, Divis fired a blue-line shot that beat Hillegas after a pass from first-year Stephen Inman (Coventry, R.I./Odessa Jackalopes). Dickman tallied with 2:43 remaining, with Divis assisting to notch a point on his third straight marker.

Saint Michael's hosts the University of New England tomorrow at 3 p.m.

by Student Intern Eric Gissendanner