SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team fell to nationally-regarded Amherst College, 6-4, in non-conference action at Cairns Arena on Tuesday. The Purple Knights move to 3-3-1 overall, while the Lord Jeffs, who are the defending New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship finalist, improve to 3-1. Amherst is receiving votes toward both the latest D3hockey.com and USCHO.com Division III polls.
Senior William Côté (Quebec City, Quebec/Rice Memorial Prep), sophomores Stephen Inman (Coventry, R.I./Odessa Jackalopes) and Justin McKenzie (Hawthorne, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) and first-year Eric Salzillo (Johnston, R.I./Boston Bandits) all scored for Saint Michael's. Seniors AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College), Eric Robinson (Williston, Vt./Berkshire School) and Jeremy Wong (Montreal, Quebec/Tilton School), junior Kevin Altidor (Montreal, Quebec/Millbrook School) and sophomores Connor Mitchell (New Milford, Conn./Kent School) and Shawn Morrow (East Greenbush, N.Y./Kent School) each earned an assist. Senior goalie Dave Donzanti (West Chester, Pa./Northfield Mount Hermon) made 35 saves, leaving him three short of 1,000 for his career.
First-year Keenan Hodgson (Collingwood, Ontario/Jean Varnier School) had one goal and two assists, while junior Conor Brown (Greely, Ontario/Saint Mark) netted two goals. Seniors Andrew Fenwick (Quispamsis, New Brunswick), Daniel Merenich (Horsham, Pa./Milton Academy) and Mike Rowbotham (Stittsville, Ontario/Sacred Heart) also scored for Amherst. Senior Jake Turrin (Brewster, N.Y./Milton Academy), juniors Brandon Burke (Westwood, Mass./Saint Sebastian's), Theo Hannah (Bedford, Nova Scotia/Charles P. Allen) and Xavier Louis Reed (Oakland, Calif./Taft School) all dished assists. Sophomore Austin Ho (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) and first-year Thomas Lindstrom (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Breck School) also both had a helper. Senior Dan Vitale (Scarsdale, N.Y./Brewster Bulldogs) collected 21 saves for the win.
In a first period that saw both teams convert on a power-play chance, Saint Michael's was the first to take advantage with the man up when Inman let loose a one-time slapshot from Robinson at 7:11. After an initial Purple Knight shot was blocked by the Amherst defense, the puck kicked out to Robinson, who fed a cross-ice pass to Inman for the blue line score. The Lord Jeffs responded with a power-play goal of their own when Rowbotham wristed a shot from the right circle that found its way under Donzanti's glove at 14:16. Amherst then took the lead 2:52 later when Louis Reed fired a point shot that was redirected in the slot by Hodgson to the left of the net.
The Purple Knights evened up the score just 1:10 into the second period when Pieprzak's left circle shot was saved, but the puck squirted out to Côté, who stuffed in the rebound to the open side of the net. The assist gives Pieprzak his sixth point in the last three games and elevates his overall point total to nine. After a Saint Michael's penalty, Amherst gained back the lead at 5:43 when Merenich picked up the loose puck and punched in the rebound off Lindstrom's point shot. Donzanti and Vitale exchanged a pair of saves before the Purple and Gold knotted the score, 3-3, at 9:09 when McKenzie buried a one-time shot glove side after receiving a pass from Morrow, who was below the goal line.
Amherst had a chance to go back ahead when Brown scooted up the ice on a breakaway while shorthanded at 10:10, but his shot was turned away by Donzanti's blocker. The Lord Jeffs eventually hopped back into the lead after depositing their third power-play marker at 15:06. After Hodgson's shot was blocked by a Purple Knight defender, Brown corralled the puck and snapped a shot low left side.
Saint Michael's continued its pattern of scoring the first goal of the period when Salzillo found the back of the net at 1:48 of the third stanza. The visitors rattled off two unanswered goals to take a 6-4 lead. Brown put Amherst ahead at 5:42 when he flicked a short side shot just into the top left corner. Fenwick then provided the insurance marker at 12:35 when his shot from a Ho face-off win was tipped by a Saint Michael's defender and through the legs of Donzanti. The hosts then peppered Vitale with four more shots before Donzanti was pulled for the extra attacker with 1:55 remaining. The Purple Knights had a shot blocked and another saved before being assessed another penalty, forcing Donzanti back in net for the defensive zone draw with 38 seconds to go. After Saint Michael's gained possession, Donzanti hit the bench again with 22 seconds remaining, but the hosts had both of their ensuing shots blocked by the Amherst defense.
The Purple Knights wrap up the semester with three road games, beginning with defending Northeast-10 Conference regular-season champion Stonehill College at 7 p.m. on Dec. 2.
