SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team fell in a New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) contest against Saint Anselm College, 2-1, on Friday at Cairns Arena. With the loss, the Purple Knights fall to 7-9-2 and 4-7-1 in the NEHC. With the win, the Hawks improve to 9-7-2 and 5-6-1. It was the Purple Knights' first loss in five games after going 5-1-2 in its previous eight contests, while this proved to be the Hawks' eighth contest decided by one goal or less in nine outings.

Sophomore Colin Biebel (Roxborough Park, Colo./Walpole Express) scored the game's lone goal for the Purple Knights, and classmate Chris Johnson (Duxbury, Mass./Pomfret School) made 30 saves in the contest. He passed Mark Crowley '91 (1,200) to move into ninth in school history with 1,212 career stops. Sophomore Sam D'Antuono (Hingham, Mass./Dexter School) went 15-for-21 on faceoffs.

For the Hawks, senior Nick Leonard and sophomore Jeremy Carignan each contributed a goal and an assist, and first-year Trey Aiello added two assists. Sophomore Colin Soucy made 34 saves.

Late in a back-and-forth first period, Hawk senior Peter Sikalis hit the right post with a screened shot from the point at 14:30. Biebel outskated a defender for a loose puck at his offensive blue line, but was stopped with a left-pad save by Soucy at 18:26.

Twenty seconds into the second period, senior Brendon Kerrigan was denied on the doorstep by Johnson. The Hawks opened the scoring at 12:58, when Leonard put a rebound into the bottom right following a shot from Aiello. During a Saint Anselm power play late in the period, Leonard sent a pass from the point to the bottom left for Carignan, who finished past Johnson at 17:09. The Hawks took a 2-0 lead into the third period.

Saint Michael's held a 14-8 advantage in shots during the final stanza but still trailed by two goals heading into the closing minute. Johnson came off the ice in favor of an extra skater with 3:29 remaining, and the Purple Knights blocked a pair of shots on the open net in the following two minutes to remain within striking distance. In the game's final half minute, senior Danny Divis (Media, Pa./Minnesota Wilderness) beat multiple defenders in the neutral zone and crossed the blue line before firing a backhanded shot off Soucy. First-year John Barry (South Boston, Mass./Deerfield Academy) gathered the rebound and fired another shot off Soucy before Biebel knocked home the next rebound during a scramble out front with 18.8 seconds remaining. However, Saint Michael's was unable to generate another shot on goal.

The Purple Knights host New England College tomorrow at 4 p.m. The Pilgrims received votes toward both Division III national polls this week.