Men's Ice Hockey 2/21/2020 12:00:00 AM

Purple Knights Erase Deficit with Three Late Goals, Clinch Home Ice for NE10 Semifinal

Box Score

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - Down a goal in the final seven minutes, the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team scored three times in a 4:08 span to defeat Stonehill College, 4-2, and nail down the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Friday night in Cairns Arena.

The Purple Knights extended their winning streak to five games while snapping the Skyhawks' winning streak at four contests. With tomorrow's Senior Day game against Stonehill still remaining, Saint Michael's has ensured itself a home semifinal game next Saturday against an opponent still to be determined.

RECORDS

Saint Michael's (15-8-2, 11-5-1 NE10), Stonehill (11-11-4, 8-6-3 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

Junior Thomas Flack (Toronto, Ontario/Saint Michael's Buzzers), 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 blocks, 16-for-19 faceoffs
Junior Ethan Hendrickson (Budd Lake, N.J./New Jersey Rockets), 1 goal, 1 assist
Junior Sel Narby (Huntington, N.Y./Connecticut Junior Rangers), 2 assists
Junior Paul McAuliffe (Newton, Mass./Kimball Union Academy), 1 goal
Senior Tim Decker (Liverpool, N.Y./Canterbury School), 34 saves
Junior Niall Foster (Newmarket, N.H./Walpole Express), 11-for-16 faceoffs
Senior William Santangeli (Oakville, Ontario/Saint Mark's School), 6-for-10 faceoffs

OPPONENT LEADERS

Senior Cameron Wright, 1 goal
Sophomore Mike Seoane, 1 goal
Senior Matthew Schoen, 24 saves

GAME FACTS

Saint Michael's clinched the No. 2 seed in the NE10 Championship, which begins with a home semifinal next Saturday against an opponent to be determined.
The Purple Knights extended their winning streak to five games - their longest since the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons - while snapping Stonehill's streak at four contests. The Skyhawks had won five consecutive NE10 games since a 3-5-3 league start.
Three of the Purple and Gold's five wins in its current streak have been comeback victories.
Saint Michael's was outshot 36-28 but held a 41-20 advantage in faceoff wins.
Decker moved into a tie for third in program history in career wins (27) with Bill Heney '92 while passing Dave Donzanti '15 (1,366) for eighth in saves (1,374). Decker's 12 wins this year tie Bob Chancio '98 (1996-97) for third in program history, with the most since Nick Dion '99 had 15 in 1998-99.
After going winless in their last three games with Stonehill (0-2-1), netting six goals in those outings, the Purple Knights scored four tonight.
The teams combined for one goal in the opening two periods before scoring five times in a 16:13 span of the third period. Saint Michael's had last scored four goals in the third period when it had five versus these same Skyhawks on Dec. 4, 2018, also at Cairns Arena.
Saint Michael's had last played on Feb. 8.

THE ACTION

Wright was denied from the left circle by Decker's blocker 1:25 into the opening stanza before Purple Knight senior Hadan Jordan (Colorado Springs, Colo./Boston Bandits) had a shot above the left circle stopped by Schoen's left skate with 7:55 gone.
Decker made a handful of big stops down the stretch, denying sophomore Owen Schiffmann's bid out front with his blocker at 11:22 and posting a pad stop of first-year Teddy McElaney's shot from the low left circle at 12:28. The netminder turned away junior Sean Conley's slap shot from the blue line at 14:25 before smothering senior Jack Scannell's put-back bid at the left post.
Senior Zachary Frament's power-play slapper above the left circle was denied by Decker's paddle at 16:10, and the goalie stopped Wright's shorthanded breakaway bid with his blocker at 18:58.
The Purple Knights' best chance down the stretch came on a slap shot from junior Cameron Stewart (Sabattus, Maine/East Coast Wizards), whose drive from the left circle at 18:32 was covered by Schoen.
Narby ripped a slap shot off of Schoen's helmet from up close during a power play 28 seconds into the second period.
Decker kept it knotted by making seven saves in a little more than three minutes shortly thereafter, including stopping senior Connor Jewett with his toe on a rebound at 2:20, denying Jewett's bid through traffic 16 seconds later and repelling first-year Brendan Nehmer's point-blank one-timer at 3:50.
Stonehill broke through at 5:34, with Wright tipping home senior Michael Seibold's pass from the left circle.
Junior Paul Cerdà (Puigcerdà, Catalunya/Buffalo State) tried waiting out Schoen with a couple moves out front during a rush at 9:27 but had a bid saved, and Decker kept it 1-0 by saving Nehmer's one-timer from the left circle during a 3-on-2 rush with 12:07 gone.
First-year Jeremy Routh (Hamden, Conn./New Hampshire Junior Monarchs) had a wrist shot during a power play turned away at 16:26 before Schoen twice denied Routh bids up close in the final 10 seconds on another man advantage.
Flack knotted the game 1:27 into the third period. Narby began the play with a stretch pass to Hendrickson, who passed from the left circle into the slot for Flack, who gathered and went glove side.
Seoane tipped home senior Zachary Frament's slap pass through Decker's five-hole during a power play to give Stonehill a 2-1 lead with 12:06 remaining, setting up a frenzied finish.
A little more than a minute later, Flack won a faceoff into the left corner, where Stewart dished out for Hendrickson, who picked the space above Schoen's right shoulder from the left circle just 1:26 after the Skyhawks had tied the game.
The visitors went on the power play less than a minute later, but two Skyhawk penalties within 27 seconds negated the man advantage and put Saint Michael's on a 5-on-3 power play. During that opportunity, junior Andrew Olevitz (Winthrop, Mass./Northern Cyclones) sent a cross-ice pass into the right circle for McAuliffe, who buried the eventual game-winner at 17:11.
Just 29 seconds later, and with his team still a man up, Flack ripped a shot from the slot off the left post and in to push the lead to 4-2, capping a stretch of three Purple Knight goals in a matter of 4:08.
Stonehill went on a power play at 18:05 and pulled Schoen for an extra attacker for the final 1:19 to make it 6-on-4, but Decker denied the only shot sent his way, turning away sophomore Charles Page with 13.5 seconds left following a scramble out front.