SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team scored five goals for the second time in as many games en route to a 5-4 victory against Skidmore College in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East play at the Saratoga City Rink on Saturday. At 5-3-2 overall, the Purple Knights hold their best 10-game start record since being 5-4-1 in 2007-08. Saint Michael's is also 4-2-1 in the ECAC East, its best start since joining the league in 2001-02, and its best conference mark since kicking off the 1999-2000 ECAC Northeast campaign 5-1. The Thoroughbreds fall to 2-8-1 and 1-7. Saint Michael's wrapped up its first-semester slate on Saturday.

The Purple and Gold had 13 different players record at least one point, including five different goal scorers. Junior Mike Schreiner (Saint Albans, Vt./Norwich) and sophomore Shawn Morrow (East Greenbush, N.Y./Kent School) both registered one goal and one assist. Senior AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College), junior Brodie McCusker (Canaan, N.H./Saint Paul's School) and sophomore Justin McKenzie (Hawthorne, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) each tallied one goal. Seniors William Côté (Quebec City, Quebec/Rice Memorial Prep), Mark Higgins (Plainville, Mass./Kent School), Eric Robinson (Williston, Vt./Berkshire School) and Jeremy Wong (Montreal, Quebec/Tilton School) and junior Kevin Altidor (Montreal, Quebec/Millbrook School) each had an assist. Sophomores Josh Dickman (Kapaa/Hawaii/Saint Paul's School) and Danny Divis (Media, Pa./Minnesota Wilderness) and first-year Ian Speliotis (Westford, Mass./The Brooks School) also had one helper apiece. Senior goalie Dave Donzanti (West Chester, Pa./Northfield Mount Hermon) made 23 saves for the win.

First-year Connor Pelkey (Saint Albans, Vt./Rio Grande) registered a hat trick with classmate Sean Timmons  (Cream Ridge, N.J./Princeton Day School) also scoring a goal. Junior Ondrej Krajnak (Presov, Slovakia/Salisbury School) and sophomores Anthony Bird (Central Square, N.Y./The Gunnery) and Marc Cibelli (Liverpool, N.Y./The Gunnery) all had two assists. First-years Mickey Foley (Longmeadow, Mass./Springfield Pics) and Andreas Michailidis (Stamford, Conn./Junior Bruins) provided one helper apiece. Sophomore Jack McDonald (King City, Ontario/Saint Andrew's College) collected 30 saves.

The Purple Knights were the first to strike first when McKenzie potted his second goal of the season at 12:27 of the first period. The Thoroughbreds countered with a power-play tally by Pelkey with 1:41 remaining in the stanza. Both teams were even at nine shots apiece through the opening 20 minutes.

Saint Michael's took control of the second period, burying two goals on 18 shots while Skidmore was left scoreless on eight shots. The Purple and Gold pulled back ahead when Schreiner found the back of the net on a rebound shot for the second time of the season just seven minutes into play. The marker was Schreiner's second in his last three games. The visitors then went up 3-1 after Morrow posted a goal at 13:40, his first tally of the year.

The third period saw both teams' offensive output on display. In the closing 20 minutes, both squads combined to score five goals on 18 shots. Saint Michael's extended to 4-1 after McCusker scored his first goal of the winter at 5:55. The game remained a three-goal affair until the closing 5:58 when both teams combined to score four goals. Skidmore cut the deficit in half when Pelkey scored on the power play at 14:02. Pieprzak then netted a goal for the Purple Knights at 17:52, bringing the score to 5-2. The marker gives him six on the season and 14 points overall. He has now recorded at least one point in nine of 10 games of this season. Skidmore fought back, though, as Timmons scored just seven seconds after Pieprzak's goal. With Skidmore having pulled its goalie for the extra man, Pelkey fired a shot from just inside the blue that beat Donzanti with 42 seconds remaining in the game. The Thoroughbreds threatened once more, but the Purple Knights were able to clear out the zone to seal the one-goal win.

The Purple Knights resume play when they travel to Lake Placid, N.Y. to participate in the New Year's College Hockey Classic on Jan. 2-3. Saint Michael's takes on Middlebury College at 7 p.m. on day one of the tournament.