HENNIKER, N.H. - Sophomore Chris Santello (Bridgeport, Conn./Connecticut Oilers) buried the game-winning goal 3:02 into overtime as New England College beat the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team, 3-2, in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East action on Friday at Lee Clement Arena. The Purple Knights see their two-game winning streak end and move to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the ECAC East, while the Pilgrims improve to 2-3-1 and 2-3.

Seniors William Côté (Quebec City, Quebec/Rice Memorial Prep) and Mark Higgins (Plainville, Mass./Kent School) both scored for Saint Michael's with two assists from classmate AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College) and one helper from sophomore Danny Divis (Media, Pa./Minnesota Wilderness). Junior goalie Michael Comitini (Hudson, Quebec/Cornwall Colts) logged 23 saves in his first start of the season.

Santiello finished the game with two goals with junior Cheyne Matheson (Wheatley, Ontario/Leamington) providing the other tally for New England College. Senior James O'Reilly (Charleston, S.C./Yarmouth Mariners) and first-year Garrett Brazzier (Goffstown, N.H./New England Wolves) both dished two assists and junior Kyle Manlow (Murretta, Calif./Winkler Flyers) chipped in another helper. Senior Sebastian Andersson (Sundyberg, Sweden/Sollentuna) collected 38 saves for the win.

Despite holding a 6-3 shot advantage through the opening 11:22, New England College registered the game's first goal after Matheson buried a short-handed tally after skating up the ice on a breakaway. Both teams then exchanged four shots apiece, as Andersson was able to hold off a trio of scoring bids at the 16:30 mark while the Purple Knights were on the power play. Saint Michael's ended the opening period with a 10-9 lead in shots.

The Purple and Gold evened up the score in the middle period when Côté tallied a power-play marker after burying the rebound at 6:08 off Divis' shot. The goal was Côté's second of the season, while Divis picked up a point for the fourth straight game. Saint Michael's kept up the offensive charge, testing Andersson with 11 more shots which were all turned aside to wrap up the second stanza.

After starting the third period in a 2-2 tie, the hosts broke the stalemate when Santiello notched the go-ahead goal at 6:23. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Purple Knights knotted up the score 44 seconds later as Pieprzak fed Higgins a pass that Higgins fired in for his first goal of the season. Saint Michael's ended regulation with five shots on net compared to four by New England College. The Purple and Gold had a 37-25 shot lead after three periods. With Andersson coming up with three saves to start overtime, the Pilgrims' offense responded as O'Reilly dished a one-time pass from the wing to Santiello, who put in the game-winner 3:02 into extra time.

The Purple Knights now head to Saint Anselm College for a Saturday contest at 4 p.m.  The game counts toward both the ECAC East and Northeast-10 Conference standings.