WORCESTER, Mass. - During its second-to-last Northeast-10 Conference game of the year, the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team fell to Assumption College, 7-3, on Saturday at Buffone Arena. The Purple Knights, who close their NE-10 slate with their next game, which comes on Jan. 10, are 2-11 overall and 1-3 in the league. The Greyhounds improved to 4-6-2 and 2-3, gaining a measure of revenge after being eliminated from last year's NE-10 Championship in the semifinal round by Saint Michael's. The two schools are now among four teams tied for second in the league.

Sophomore Keegan Finn (Yarmouth, Mass./Bay State Breakers) scored his first college goal for the Purple Knights, while senior Brodie McCusker (Canaan, N.H./Saint Paul's School) and sophomore Eric Salzillo (Johnston, R.I./Boston Bandits) also tallied. Salzillo and senior Nick Potter (Stoneham, Mass./The Brooks School) both went 11-for-19 on faceoffs, and first-year Sam D'Antuono (Hingham, Mass./Dexter School) was 10-of-20. During a game that featured nearly two shots per minute, Saint Michael's held a 60-50 advantage in attempts, with first-year Chris Johnson (Duxbury, Mass./Pomfret School) turning aside 43 for his third 40-save outing of the season.

Senior Brandon Bete netted a hat trick and an assist for Assumption, junior Ryan Gomez added two goals and a helper, and classmates Kevin Murphy and Stephen Picard both scored once. Sophomore Brian Farrell dished off three assists, and junior Nick Commesso had 57 saves.

The Purple Knights put four shots on goal during a power play that began a little less than five minutes into the game, but Commesso stopped each, and Assumption cashed in on its lone man advantage of the period when Gomez tallied at 14:38. The Greyhounds carried the 1-0 edge into intermission.

Bete doubled his team's edge 7:29 into the second period, with Gomez lending the primary assist. Just after a Saint Michael's power play ended, Salzillo was turned away by Commesso, but Finn followed the play by putting home his first career tally at 13:04. The Purple Knights earned a power play 1:41 later, with both of their shots getting stopped, each coming off the stick of junior defender Danny Divis (Media, Pa./Minnesota Wilderness).

Saint Michael's fired another five shots on goal during a power play early in the third, but Commesso saved each, and Picard countered with a tally at 6:22, pushing the Greyhounds' lead to 3-1. The visitors ultimately finished the third period with a 34-18 advantage in shots, accounting for more than half of their total for the game, but Assumption scored once more with 14:54 gone, as Bete found the back of the net for the second time, kicking off a wild final five minutes. Gomez scored an empty-netter 1:47 later, but McCusker cut the deficit back to three, at 5-2, on a helper from Divis at 17:43.

Thanks to a Greyhound being penalized on the McCusker goal, Saint Michael's went directly into a power play, but Bete and Murphy scored shorthanded tallies 11 seconds apart near the beginning of the man advantage to push the lead out to 7-2. Salzillo concluded the power play by scoring at 18:40, the fourth goal potted by the teams in a matter of 57 seconds, with three coming in the final 40 seconds of the power play.

The Purple Knights resume action on Jan. 10 at Southern New Hampshire University at 3:30 p.m. for their NE-10 regular-season finale. The Penmen are among the four-team log jam for second in the standings.