GOFFSTOWN, N.H. - The Saint Michael's College men's tennis team opened a two-match weekend with an 8-1 setback to regionally-ranked Southern New Hampshire University, the defending Northeast-10 Conference Championship titlist, on Friday at the YMCA Allard Center of Goffstown. The Purple Knights are now 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the NE-10, while the Penmen are 3-4 and 3-1. Southern New Hampshire, which is ninth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Regional rankings, qualified for the past three NCAA Tournaments.

Sophomores Tyler Lucey (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) and Hayden Steward (Hamilton, Mass./Pingree School) teamed for the Purple and Gold's closest setback in doubles, as they dropped an 8-4 decision in the third position. At the top spot, senior Billy Wood (Wayne, Pa./Home Schooled) and sophomore Ben Lambert (Milford, N.H./Milford) faced the fourth-ranked doubles tandem in the region, losing 8-1.

Steward notched the Saint Michael's point by claiming an eight-game pro-set, winning by an 8-3 count in the No. 6 singles position. Lambert fell by an 8-5 count in the fifth spot, and sophomore Patrick Dietz (Prospect, Conn./Woodland Regional) held close in the second set of a 6-1, 6-4 loss at No. 4. In the first slot, Wood lost a pair of 6-2 decisions against the region's 19th-ranked player.

Saint Michael's heads to regionally-ranked Merrimack College tomorrow for a 2 p.m. meeting. The Warriors, who are fifth in the latest ITA East Regional poll, won the past three NE-10 regular-season titles while qualifying for the NCAA Tournament each season.