SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team scored a goal in all three periods and held on for a 3-2 win against the University of New England during Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East play Friday night at Cairns Arena. The Purple Knights improve to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the ECAC East, while the Nor'easters move to 2-2 and 1-2. The Purple and Gold also beat the Nor'easters for the first time since Jan. 26, 2013, ending a two-game skid against the University of New England.

Senior William Côté (Quebec City, Quebec/Rice Memorial Prep) and sophomore Danny Divis (Media, Pa./Minnesota Wilderness) both recorded one goal and one assist, and first-year Eric Salzillo (Johnston, R.I./Boston Bandits) netted another marker, while seniors Mark Higgins (Plainville, Mass./Kent School), AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College) and Jeremy Wong (Montreal, Quebec/Tilton School) and sophomore Josh Dickman (Kapaa, Hawaii/Saint Paul's School) registered assists. Senior goalie Dave Donzanti (West Chester, Pa./Northfield Mount Hermon) collected 28 saves for the win.

Junior Tom Gildersleeve (Pemaquid Point, Maine/Portland Junior Pirates) had one goal and one assist and sophomore Christian Cordier (Lake View, N.Y./Islanders Hockey Club) notched a goal, while classmate Trevor Fleurent (Biddeford, Maine/Portland Junior Pirates) logged two helpers. Senior Colby Drost (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Niagara) totaled 21 saves.

Saint Michael's opened the scoring after Côté buried a goal just 1:37 into play. After Divis' point pass was blocked by the Nor'easter defense, Côté picked up the puck in traffic and buried a shot to the low right side. The visitors then tried to even the score, but a shot off the right post at 2:21 and a pair of Donzanti stops from inside the slot at 5:04.The University of New England knotted up the game at 14:35 after Gildersleeve fired a shot on the ice from the left side half boards that sneaked through Donzanti's legs. Donzanti and Drost then exchanged a pair of saves to close out the first period that saw the visitors hold a 10-7 shot advantage.

The second stanza started like the first for Saint Michael's, as the Purple Knights found the back of the net early when Salzillo registered his first career goal at 1:46.  Côté fed the puck to Wong, who then passed to Salzillo, and Salzillo wristed a shot just under the crossbar from the right face-off dot. Drost then came up with a stop on Altidor, who had ripped a shot from the left circle with 5:01 remaining in the period.

While skating down a man at 3:30 of the third period, sophomore David Goff (Gulfport, Fla./Walpole Express) intercepted a Purple Knight blue line pass and skated up the ice on a breakaway, but Goff lost possession of the puck in the slot and could not get off a shot. After going on the power play, the Purple and Gold extended its lead to 3-1 after Divis took a Pieprzak pass and slapped a low shot that beat Drost blocker side at 14:30. The Nor'easters then cut the lead to one goal after Cordier found the puck in a scramble low in the offensive zone and snapped a shot to the left side of the net. After pulling Drost and gaining an extra skater with 1:51 remaining, the University of New England had five shots, three of which were blocked by Purple Knight defenders.

The Purple Knights continue their ECAC East schedule with a home game against the University of Southern Maine at 3 p.m. on Saturday.