HENNIKER, N.H. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team struck first but ended up falling to New England College, 5-1, on Saturday afternoon at Lee Clement Arena in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East action. The Purple Knights drop to 4-15-1 overall and 2-11-1 in league play, while the Pilgrims, who were receiving votes toward both Division III national polls, improve to 14-6-1 and 10-5.

Purple Knight first-year Josh Dickman (Kapaa, Hawaii/Saint Paul's School) scored his seventh goal of the year as the team's only tally, while senior Kevin Lampron (Boston, Mass./Bridgewater Bandits) and sophomore Mike Schreiner (Saint Albans, Vt./Norwich) contributed assists. Sophomore Michael Comitini (Hudson, Quebec/Cornwall Colts) stopped 26 shots for his team, which outshot the hosts 39-31.

Senior Ben Maclaughlin (Beverly, Mass./Yarmouth Mariners) scored once and had two assists for the Pilgrims, while junior Kevin Marceau (Concord, N.H./Concord) had a goal and an assist. Junior James O'Reilly (Charleston, S.C./Yarmouth Mariners), sophomore Cheyne Matheson (Wheatley, Ontario/Leamington) and first-year Shawn Watson (Pointe-Claire, Quebec/Bracebridge Phantoms) all had one goal. Senior Matt Abbott (Kirkland, Quebec/Lakeshore Panthers) had two assists, while classmate Sebastian Anderson (Sundyberg, Sweden/Sollentuna) had 38 saves.

The Purple Knights struck first in the opening frame when Lampron connected with Dickman at 3:33 of the period. The Pilgrims answered back at 12:14 when Marceau scored a power-play goal. Abbott and Maclaughlin had the assists. Matheson scored the game-winning goal 33 seconds into the second stanza, as Maclaughlin and sophomore Kyle Manlow (Murretta, Calif./Winkler Flyers) each had an assist.

Watson added another tally at 8:51 of the second to give the Pilgrims a two-goal lead, while first-year John Quinlan (Marlton, N.J./New Jersey Rockets) assisted on the play. O'Reilly extended the Pilgrim lead at 14:04 of the second. Marceau and sophomore Garrett Brazzier (Mississauga, Ontario/Harrington College) had the assists. Maclaughlin ended the scoring at 17:18 of the final period on a power play.

The Purple Knights return to action on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. as they host Northeast-10 Conference opponent Franklin Pierce University.