BOSTON, Mass. - Junior Mike Miller (Wrentham, Mass./Boston Bandits) scored 3:42 into overtime as the nationally-ranked University of Massachusetts at Boston beat the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team, 6-5, in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East play at the Beacons Ice Arena on Friday. The Purple Knights slip to 8-14-2 overall and 5-11-1 in the league, while the Beacons improve to 20-3-1 and 15-2. UMass Boston is ranked sixth by D3hockey.com. This was the second time in as many meetings that the teams had the game decided in extra time. On Jan. 10, the Beacons claimed a 5-4 overtime victory.

Sophomore Josh Dickman (Kapaa, Hawaii/Saint Paul's School) registered one goal and two assists for Saint Michael's with senior AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College) adding one goal and one assist. Senior Mark Higgins (Plainville, Mass./Kent School), junior Nick Potter (Stoneham, Mass./The Brooks School) and sophomore Shawn Morrow (East Greenbush, N.Y./Kent School) each provided one goal. First-year Eric Salzillo (Johnston, R.I./Boston Bandits) dished off three assists, while junior Mike Schreiner (Saint Albans, Vt./Norwich) and sophomore Connor Mitchell (New Milford, Conn./Kent School) both turned in a helper. Senior Dave Donzanti (West Chester, Pa./Northfield Mount Hermon) made 30 saves in the loss.

In addition to Miller's overtime tally, junior Frankie DeAugustine (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bismarck Bobcats) and classmate Matt Lemire (Townsend, Mass./Quinnipiac) both contributed two goals and one assist for UMass Boston, while sophomore Tyler Bishop (Ramsey, N.J./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) recorded one goal and two assists. Junior Billy Faust (Alta Loma, Calif./Vermont) stopped 40 shots for the Beacons.

Miller broke up the 5-5 deadlock at the 3:42 mark of overtime when he redirected a point shot from senior Dan Cornell (Abington, Mass./Northeastern). Sophomore Albee Daley (Averill Park, N.Y./Valley Jr. Warriors) also assisted on the game-winning tally as UMass Boston won its 20th game of the season for the first time since 1981-82.

In a contest with four lead changes, the Beacons hopped on the board first when DeAugustine fed a pass to Bishop, who then fired a slapshot from the blue line that found its way through traffic and beat Donzanti at 9:50 of the first period. The Purple Knights evened up the score when Pieprzak connected with Morrow just inside the right circle, and Morrow snapped a shot that just trickled under Faust's pad with 11 seconds left in the stanza.

UMass Boston retook the lead with two unanswered goals in a 2:26 span in the second period. While on the power play, DeAugustine netted his first goal of the game when he redirected Cornell's shot at 9:24. DeAugustine extended the Beacons' lead after his redirection from Bishop's shot sneaked just under the crossbar at 11:50. Saint Michael's brought the score to within one after Higgins saw his power-play shot deflect off of a UMass Boston defender and past Faust at 14:20. Through two periods, the visitors held a 25-18 shot advantage but trailed, 3-2.

The third period turned into a wild one as the teams combined to score five goals on 33 shots. Saint Michael's drew even on the scoreboard at 10:40 after Potter, who was behind the net, sent a bid off Faust's back and into the net. The Purple Knights then took their first and only lead of the game just 1:06 later. After Salzillo kept the puck in the offensive zone on a clearing attempt, he fed a one-time pass to Pieprzak, who buried home the shot. The lead was short-lived, however, as UMass Boston scored just 23 seconds later when the Beacons skated in on an odd-man rush with Lemire backhanding the puck just under the crossbar. The hosts grabbed back the lead as Lemire once again sent the puck top shelf at 13:47 off of an offensive zone draw. With the beginning of a power play coming, Donzanti was pulled to give the Purple Knights a 6-on-4 advantage. The advantage favored Saint Michael's as Dickman jammed in the puck from outside the crease at 18:22 to bring the score at a 5-5 stalemate. The Purple and Gold ended regulation having seen a pair of its shots blocked by the Beacon defense.

The Purple Knights wrap up their regular season with a visit to nationally-ranked Babson College at 3 p.m. tomorrow. Babson is ranked 10th in the U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division III national poll while sitting at 11th by D3hockey.com.