SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team completed a three-game stretch against nationally-ranked Division III foes on Friday with a 9-0 loss to No. 2 Norwich University at Cairns Arena in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East action. The Purple Knights slipped to 5-8-2 overall and 4-5-1 in the league, while the Cadets are 14-1-1 and 10-0. Norwich, which is second in both national polls, qualified for the past five NCAA Division III Tournaments.

Senior Dave Donzanti (West Chester, Pa./Northfield Mount Hermon) had 26 stops for Saint Michael's during two stints in net, moving into ninth in program history in career saves (1,158) to pass Erik Smith '07 (1,146). Junior Michael Comitini (Hudson, Quebec/Cornwall Colts) had three stops in 4:12 of relief action.

Sophomore William Pelletier (Saint Jean Chrysotome, Quebec/Lindsay Muskies) paced Norwich with two goals and two assists, and junior Dean Niezgoda (Brewster, Mass./South Shore Kings) added two goals and an assist. Senior Gerard McEleney (Canton, Mass./Saint Sebastian's School) and sophomore Brendan Boyce (Saint Albans, Vt./Saint Paul's School) both turned in one tally and one helper, and senior Nevin Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass./Cushing Academy) and sophomores Nick Pichette (Massena, N.Y./Valley Warriors) and Trevor Stewart (Denver, Colo./Wenatchee Wild) also scored. First-year Kevin Salvucci (Plymouth, Mass./Baystate Breakers) handed out three assists, and sophomore Anthony Flaherty (South Boston, Mass./South Shore Kings) two. Classmate Ty Reichenbach (Billings, Mont./AIC) notched 13 stops in the first 45:13 to nab the win, and senior Matic Marinšek (Ljubljana, Slovenia/HK Olimpija II) recorded four.

The Purple Knights yielded three goals in the opening 4:33 of the game and trailed 5-0 by the time 8:45 had elapsed, as the Cadets twice posted a pair of quick tallies. A little more than two minutes into the contest, Donzanti stopped a shot from Salvucci, but Pelletier picked up the loose puck on the right side of the net, skated behind and depositing a shot under the netminder's blocker after 2:37. On Norwich's next shot, Lawler was denied before he pounced on his own rebound and slid the puck into the right side with Donzanti prone at 4:21. Just 12 seconds later, Niezgoda's snapper from the top of the circle made it 3-0. Boyce extended the advantage from the slot at 8:36, and McEleney's snap shot nine seconds after that also found the back of the net.

Saint Michael's looked to get on the board around the 13-minute mark, but Reichenbach posted three consecutive stops on shots from the doorstep, with sophomore Shawn Morrow (East Greenbush, N.Y./Kent School) firing off two of those attempts.

Norwich tacked on three goals in the second period, with Pelletier notching the first at 3:38 and Stewart tallying 31 seconds later. Pichette scored on a power play at 7:54 to cap a string of three markers in 4:16. Donzanti turned away a Stewart shot from the slot with 4:20 to go on a nice glove save, and the Purple Knights had an odd-man rush nearly result in a tally with 15 seconds left, as senior AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College) slid a cross-crease pass to sophomore Connor Mitchell (New Milford, Conn./Kent School), who sent a shot just wide.

Following a diving save by Donzanti early in the third period, the loose puck was cycled around to Niezgoda, who tallied after 35 seconds. The Purple Knights, who matched the Cadets with six shots in the final stanza, killed off two penalties and averted any further damage in the period. Saint Michael's had three shots in a quick spurt just after Marinšek entered the game at 5:13, but all were turned aside.

The Purple Knights return to Northeast-10 Conference play on Tuesday by hosting Assumption College at 6 p.m. At 1-0-2, Saint Michael's is first in the six-team standings.