HOOKSETT, N.H. - The fourth-seeded Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team trailed by one goal into the final minute before falling to No. 3 Southern New Hampshire University, 4-1, in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship title game at Ice Den Arena on Saturday. The Purple Knights end their season at 7-17-3, while the Penmen captured their first tournament title and finish 17-8-1. Saint Michael's was making its eighth league championship game appearance, falling for just the third time. The two teams last met in the championship round of a tournament in 1999, in the last NCAA Division II Tournament, which the Purple and Gold won.

Purple and Gold junior Dave Donzanti (West Chester, Pa./Northfield Mount Hermon) and sophomore Kevin Altidor (Montreal, Quebec/Millbrook School) were named to the NE-10 Championship All-Championship Team, as Altidor provided the lone Saint Michael's goal and Donzanti made 26 saves while yielding just two goals. The goalie allowed only three goals on 55 shots in this year's tournament. Junior defenseman Eric Robinson (Williston, Vt./Berkshire School) registered an assist, as the visitors held a 45-30 advantage in shots.

"We had 45 shots, zero penalties and did everything we were supposed to do," said second-year head coach Damian DiGiulian, whose squad went 6-4-2 in its final 12 games following a 1-13-1 start. "I wanted us to get 15 shots a period and take three penalties or less, and that's exactly what we did. Their goalie had a great game, and they had a little run where they scored two goals, and that was the ballgame. I couldn't be happier with the way we played tonight, except for the end result."

First-year Jay Sylvia (Acushnet, Mass./South Shore Kings) recorded a goal and an assist, while senior Brian Troy (Ashburnham, Mass./Cushing Academy), junior Dane Caracino (Belmont, Mass./New Hampton School) and sophomore Jim Gabrione (Boca Raton, Fla./Tampa Bay Juniors) also scored for Southern New Hampshire. Senior Nick Riccio (Wilmington, Mass./South Kent School) posted two assists, while classmate Tyler Holske (Attleboro, Mass./South Shore Kings) recorded 44 stops.

Both teams skated to a scoreless first period filled with scoring chances, but Donzanti and Holske kept the scoreboard blank. Purple Knight junior Jeremy Wong (Montreal, Quebec/Tilton School) was denied on a power-play chance when his wrist shot was swallowed up by Holske 7:34 into the game. Southern New Hampshire then had its best opportunity squashed after Donzanti swatted away a shot with his glove off Gabrione's breakaway bid with 1:48 left.

The Penmen wasted little time to score in the second period, as Riccio muscled around a Saint Michael's defender and fed a pass to Gabrione, whose backhanded shot beat a sprawling Donzanti at 2:47. Southern New Hampshire then extended the lead to 2-0 after Sylvia redirected senior Trevor Nelson's (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) blue-line shot just 2:06 later. Saint Michael's cut the deficit in half after Altidor took a cross-ice pass from Robinson and buried the puck from the top of the crease at 10:38. With 3:05 left in the period, Donzanti flashed his right pad to rob junior John Humphrey's (Charlestown, Mass./New Hampton School) attempt at a goal.

With his team trailing 2-1 entering the third stanza, junior AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College) nearly evened up the game just 10 seconds into play, but his doorstep shot sailed wide right. First-year Danny Divis (Media, Pa./The Gunnery) then snapped a shot through traffic, but Holske was there to snag the puck at 7:07. Saint Michael's earned a power play with 4:17 remaining, but both shots during that time, each off the stick of Pieprzak, were denied by Holske. The Purple Knights were stopped twice more in the ensuing minute before pulling Donzanti with 1:21 remaining, and Southern New Hampshire collected empty-net goals from Caracino and Troy with 52 and 11 seconds remaining, respectively, to extend the lead.

by Student Intern Eric Gissendanner