SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – Junior Brandon Mitchell (North Scituate R.I./Pomfret School) scored with 15 seconds remaining in the third period to give the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team the 2-1 victory over Albertus Magnus College in the Purple Knights' season opener Friday night at Cairns Arena.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (1-0), Albertus Magnus (0-1)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Junior Brandon Mitchell (North Scituate, R.I./Pomfret School), 1 goal
• Sophomore Andrew DeCristoforo (Medway, Mass./South Shore Kings), 1 goal, 4 blocks
• Junior Niall Foster (Newmarket, N.H./Walpole Express), 12-for-18 on faceoffs
• Senior Tim Decker (Liverpool, N.Y./Canterbury School), 18 saves

OPPONENT LEADERS

• First-year Harley Michaels, 1 goal
• Frist-year Pierce Diamond, 33 saves

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights outshot the Falcons, 35-19, to open a two-game weekend series.
• This was the first game for Albertus Magnus in program history.

THE ACTION

• Just 3:55 into the game, first-year Cameron Weitzman had a shot saved by Decker, but Michaels was there for the rebound to put the Falcons up 1-0 on a power play.
• Junior Ethan Hendrickson's (Budd Lake, N.J./New Jersey Rockets) shot was saved by Diamond with three minutes remaining in the first period, and first-year Connor Redden (Southbury, Conn./Team Maryland) got the rebound but was unable to get the puck in the net.
• A power play early in the second period saw Foster and junior Sel Narby (Huntington, N.Y./Connecticut Junior Rangers) combine for four straight shots that were all saved by Diamond.
• First-year Sam Johnson (Freeport, Maine/Walpole Express) had a shot from the blue line saved a little more than six minutes into the second period, and classmate Matt Schreiner (Falmouth, Mass./Walpole Express) was there for a quick rebound shot that was also saved. DeCristoforo was finally able to put the second rebound in at 6:21 to tie the game up, crashing the right post.
• At 12:30 of the second period, first-year Douglas Johnson had a breakaway toward the goal, but Decker was able to save the shot to keep the game tied.
• At 15:49 of the third period, first-year Owen Allan had a shot snatched away by Decker's glove to keep the game tied.
• The Purple Knights took the lead with 15 second remaining when Narby passed from behind the net to first-year Jeremy Routh (Hamden, Conn./New Hampshire Junior Monarchs), who passed it to Mitchell right in front of the net at the left post for a tap-in goal.
• The Falcons pulled Diamond for the ensuing faceoff, and Douglas Johnson had a final bid go wide of the net.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday vs. Albertus Magnus, 4 p.m