SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - After a scoreless overtime period, the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team tied No. 8 University of Massachusetts at Boston, 5-5, in a New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) game on Saturday at Cairns Arena. With the result, the Purple Knights' record moves to 3-7-1 overall and 2-5-1 in the NEHC. The Beacons, who won the NEHC Tournament before falling in the NCAA Division III Tournament Frozen Four last season, earned their national ranking in the most recent U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division III national poll, and now hold a record 5-3-2 and 2-2-1.

Two Purple Knights recorded three points, as senior Josh Dickman (Kapaa, Hawaii/Saint Paul's School) scored twice and added an assist while sophomore Sam D'Antuono (Hingham, Mass./Dexter School) dished out three assists. Senior Danny Divis (Media, Pa./Minnesota Wilderness) tallied once and registered an assist, and classmate Connor Mitchell (New Milford, Conn./Kent School) scored once. First-year William Santangeli (Oakville, Ontario/Saint Mark's School) scored his first goal as a collegian, and senior Shawn Morrow (East Greenbush, N.Y./Kent School) went 15-for-26 at the faceoff dot. Junior Eric Salzillo (Johnston, R.I./Boston Bandits) was 14-for-27.

Sophomore Chris Johnson (Duxbury, Mass./Pomfret School) made 45 saves in the contest, marking his 11th career 40-save performance. Johnson's 45 saves pushed his career total to 1,013, making him one of 11 Purple Knights to ever cross the 1,000-save plateau. He is one of just three Purple Knights to reach the milestone as early as his sophomore year, joining Phil Fernandez '87, Derek Jackson '07 and Mike Dizgun '13. Saint Michael's finished 3-of-6 on the power play.

Saint Michael's capped a weekend of upsets by taking three total points from the eighth-ranked Beacons and 12th-ranked Babson College, which the Purple Knights downed 4-2 on Friday. The Purple and Gold took a point from UMass Boston as recently as Feb. 14, 2014, tying the then-11th-ranked Beacons, while today's contest was the fourth in the past six meetings decided by one goal or less.

For the Beacons, junior Colin Larkin (Waterford, Mich./Michigan Warriors) scored two goals while senior Albee Daley (Averill Park, N.Y./Valley Jr. Warriors) and first-year Ryan Cusin (Detroit, Mich./Aston Rebels) scored once and added an assist apiece. Classmate Nolan Redler (Winchester, Mass./Trail Smoke Eaters) scored, senior Tyler Bishop (Ramsey N.J./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) assisted three times, and first-year Jordan Bustard (Flanders, N.J./Connecticut Nighthawks) made 36 saves in the tie.

The Purple Knights opened the scoring with a power play goal just 1:30 into the first period, as Dickman sent a shot past Bustard from the high slot. The Beacons leveled the score at the 2:41 mark, as Cusin corralled and finished a rebound following two consecutive saves from Johnson. After forcing a turnover at his defensive blue line and gaining a breakaway during a Purple Knight penalty kill, Dickman deked to his backhand and hit the post at the 4:20 mark. The Beacons took the lead at the 11:19 mark, as Redler beat Johnson with a deke to the backhand after receiving a pass in the low slot. The Purple Knights answered with a power-play goal at the 12:40 mark, as Mitchell sent an ice-level shot just inside the right post after gathering a rebound. In a 4:09 span following Mitchell's goal, the Purple Knights blocked six shots and got three saves from Johnson while killing off two minor penalties. The teams entered the first intermission knotted at 2-2.

Divis tallied on a Saint Michael's power play early in the second period, as he sent a shot from the left point over Bustard's right shoulder, making the score 3-2 at the 1:51 mark. At the 4:00 mark, sophomore Garrett Gallagher (Aston, Pa./Philadelphia Little Flyers) sent a hard slap shot through a screen in front, but he was denied by Johnson with a blocker save. At the 5:47 mark, junior Keegan Finn (Yarmouth, Mass./Bay State Breakers) hit the left post after gathering a rebound following a D'Antuono shot. Less than a minute later, Daley sent a low shot that forced Johnson to the ice for the save, and Larkin beat a sprawling Johnson past the blocker side after gathering the rebound, tying the score at 3-3 at the 6:35 mark. Larkin gave the Beacons the lead with his second consecutive goal and a power-play marker at 9:03, beating Johnson with a wrist shot past the blocker side. Johnson made seven saves in the remaining 10:53 of the second, finishing with 17 saves for the period.

After a scoreless first half of the third period, Santangeli found a loose puck in the low slot and sent an ice-level backhanded shot past Bustard, tying the score at 4-4 with 6:14 remaining. Daley put the Beacons back ahead with a power-play marker with 4:15 remaining, as he finished from the low slot following a scramble in front. On a faceoff in the Beacon left circle with 1:57 remaining, D'Antuono won the puck back to Dickman at the top of the circle, and Dickman immediately fired a wrist shot into the top right corner, tying the score at 5-5.

The Purple Knights ended the third period on the penalty kill, as Johnson made a stop on Daley in the final minute of regulation to keep the score level. The Purple Knights successfully killed off their penalty early in the overtime period, and then went on a power play of their own with 1:51 remaining. They fired three shots, but were unable to beat Bustard on the power play opportunity, and the game ended in a tie.

Up next for the Purple Knights is road contest against Northeast-10 Conference opponent Franklin Pierce University on Tuesday at 7 p.m.