WINCHENDON, Mass. - Four players had at least three points and the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team parlayed a 5-for-9 showing on the power play into a 9-2 victory over Franklin Pierce University on Tuesday at The Winchendon School's Ritchie Arena during Northeast-10 Conference play. The Purple Knights improved to 7-12-2 overall and 3-0-2 in the league, finishing off just their second unbeaten season since the NE-10 added the sport in 2003-04. The Ravens are 3-16 and 2-5.

Saint Michael's finished NE-10 play without a loss for the first time since 2010-11, when it won the league's regular-season title. The Purple Knights, now 13-1 all time against Franklin Pierce, clinched one of the top two seeds in the four-team NE-10 Championship, which begins with semifinals on Feb. 21.

Senior AJ Pieprzak (Barrie, Ontario/Ridley College) recorded one goal and four assists for the Purple and Gold, classmate Jeremy Wong (Montreal, Quebec/Tilton School) posted two goals and two assists while going 14-of-21 on face-offs, and junior Kevin Altidor (Montreal, Quebec/Millbrook School) scored twice and dished off a helper. Classmate Nick Potter (Stoneham, Mass./The Brooks School) tallied once and assisted once, while senior William Côté (Quebec City, Quebec/Rice Memorial Prep), junior Brodie McCusker (Canaan, N.H./Saint Paul's School) and sophomore Josh Dickman (Kapaa, Hawaii/Saint Paul's School) also scored.

Senior Dave Donzanti (West Chester, Pa./Northfield Mount Hermon) made 16 saves, while seniors Mark Higgins (Plainville, Mass./Kent School) and Eric Robinson (Williston, Vt./Berkshire School) handed out three and two assists, respectively. Sophomore Shawn Morrow (East Greenbush, N.Y./Kent School) was 12-for-15 on draws, and first-year Eric Salzillo (Johnston, R.I./Boston Bandits) went 9-for-20.

During the contest, Pieprzak moved into 16th in program history in career points (89), 17th in goals (39) and 18th in assists (50) while also sliding into a tie for seventh in power-play goals (16). He is just the 13th player in school annals with 35 goals and 50 helpers.

Senior Tim Sullivan (Rye, N.H./Kents Hill) and first-year Blake Manginell (Troy, Mich./New York Apple Core) scored for the Ravens, whose three goalies combined for 37 stops.

In a five-goal opening period, the Purple Knights found the back of the net four times. At 7:51, Pieprzak scored from the top of the right circle on a power play, with Higgins and Wong assisting, kicking off a stretch of all five goals being scored in a 9:24 span. Less than three minutes later, Pieprzak sent a one-time pass into the slot for Wong, who made it 2-0 with 10:23 elapsed. Potter also assisted. Just 1:17 later, McCusker and Salzillo worked a 2-on-1, with Salzillo drawing a defender and dishing to McCusker, who extended the lead.

Franklin Pierce got a goal back on a power play at 16:17, with Sullivan tallying, but Saint Michael's netted a power-play marker of its own 58 seconds later. After Pieprzak's shot from the point was saved, Altidor grabbed the rebound and made it 4-1. Robinson also picked up an assist. Manginell brought his team within 4-2 at 13:09 of the second period, breaking in alone on Comitini, but Altidor picked the left corner from the slot 2:29 later, with Pieprzak and Wong dishing off to kick off a game-ending 5-0 run.

Three of the Purple Knights' four third-period goals came on power plays. Côté finished a 5-on-3 power-play goal from the right post at 9:53, with Higgins and Robinson assisting, and Dickman scored out of a scramble during a man advantage 1:05 later. Sophomore Stephen Inman (Coventry, R.I./Odessa Jackalopes) picked up the helper. Altidor and Pieprzak set up Wong for another tally at 13:04, and Potter's man-up marker with 45 seconds left capped the scoring. Higgins and sophomore Connor Mitchell (New Milford, Conn./Kent School) assisted.

Saint Michael's concludes its regular-season home slate this weekend with a pair of Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East contests, first taking on Skidmore College on Friday at 7 p.m.