SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team opened its home schedule with a 6-0 loss against nationally-regarded New England College during New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) play at Cairns Arena on Friday. The Purple Knights are 0-3 overall and 0-3 in the league, while the Pilgrims, now 2-1-1 and 2-0-1, received a vote in the latest U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division III national poll.

Saint Michael's senior Nick Potter (Stoneham, Mass./The Brooks School) went 13-for-24 on face-offs, while sophomore Eric Salzillo (Johnston, R.I./Boston Bandits) was 7-of-11 on draws. First-year Chris Johnson (Duxbury, Mass./Pomfret School) collected a career-high 38 saves during 58:01 of action as part of his second consecutive start in net and senior Derek McInnis (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) went untested in 1:59 of relief.

New England College first-year Connor Fries (Barnstable, Mass./Proctor Academy) scored twice and had one assist, while senior Garrett Brazzier (Mississauga, Ontario/Harrington College), junior Chris Santello (Fairfield, Conn./Connecticut Oilers), sophomore Bryce Nielsen (Laguna Hills, Calif./Kimberley Dynamiters) and first-year Mike Whitehair (Victor, N.Y./Rochester Junior Americans) each netted one goal, with Nielsen providing an assist. Junior Shawn Watson (Pointe-Claire, Quebec/Bracebridge Phantoms) and first-year Andreas Zollner (Varnamo, Sweden/Ogden Mustangs) both contributed two helpers. Junior Brett Kilar (Coto de Caza, Calif./Hampton Roads Whalers) posted a 21-save shutout.

New England College took a 1-0 lead after an 11-shot first period. The Pilgrims' initial best chance came at 2:53 when Nielsen took a shot from the point that was gobbled up by Johnson. While the Purple Knights were skating a man down at 4:45, junior Danny Divis (Media, Pa./Minnesota Wildnerness) scampered up ice and snapped a chest-high shot that was snagged by Kilar. Brazzier got the visitors on the board at 7:22 when he skated across the slot and snapped a low shot that went through Johnson's legs. Saint Michael's registered one more shot on net for the duration of the period, while New England College sent four more shots on target, including a trio of point-blank bids with 2:20 in the opening stanza.

Both sides then combined for 18 shots during a scoreless second period. At 3:35, the Pilgrims broke into their offensive zone on a 2-on-0 rush, but Johnson made a toe save on Whitehair's shot. Senior Kyle Manlow (Murrieta, Calif./Winkler Flyers) then rang a shot off of the left post on the ensuing face-off. Purple Knight juniors Connor Mitchell (New Milford, Conn./Kent School) and Shawn Morrow (East Greenbush, N.Y./Kent School) both sent shots off the iron during a four-minute span, with Morrow finding the crossbar while on the power play at 12:05. Santello then missed on an open-net chance less than two minutes later when Johnson was unable to slide across the crease following an initial stop.

The Pilgrims' offense opened up with five goals on 22 shots during the third period. Fries opened the scoring at 1:37 when he batted in the puck after his initial shot was blocked. The visitors then clicked off four goals, including two power-play markers, during a 7:04 span. After Nielsen and Whitehair scored 2:21 apart to make the game a 4-0 affair, Santello slid the puck into the open right side at 16:17 before Fries went top shelf 62 seconds later to round out the scoring.

The Purple Knights are back in action on Saturday at 4 p.m. when they host defending Northeast-10 Conference Championship titlist, Saint Anselm College. Saturday's game counts toward both the NEHC and NE-10 standings.