MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Saint Michael's College men's tennis team played its earliest season opener in four years on Saturday, falling at regionally-ranked Southern New Hampshire University, 9-0, at the SNHU Tennis Courts. The Purple Knights had not played a match this early since Sept. 22, 2013, while the Penmen, who sit fifth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region poll, are 3-0 and 2-0 in the Northeast-10 Conference. Southern New Hampshire won its last 26 matches against NE10 foes, capturing the past two league postseason tournaments while qualifying for the NCAA Tournament both years.

The most successful Saint Michael's doubles tandem competed at No. 3, as junior Jake Remillard (Saint Albans, Vt./BFA-Saint Albans) and first-year Trevor Work sided for an 8-3 loss. Remillard was seeing only his third career doubles appearance, while Work made his college debut.

Junior Max Allen (Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth Regional) fell by a 6-1, 6-3 count at No. 4 singles, and first-year Cam Maher (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) matched him by winning four games in a 6-2, 6-2 setback in the third spot during his college singles debut. Sophomore Matt Mosher (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) lost to the fifth-ranked player in the region at No. 1, appearing higher than four for the first time in his young career, and junior captain Dan Foley (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) fell against the East's 10th-ranked player at No. 2.

The Purple Knights resume their season at Saint Lawrence University on Feb. 18 at 12 p.m.