SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team scored three times in a 3:12 span of the first period to take the lead for good in a season-opening 5-2 win against Franklin Pierce University on Friday evening in Cairns Arena during Northeast-10 Conference play.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (1-0, 1-0 NE10), Franklin Pierce (0-6, 0-4 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Cameron Stewart (Sabattus, Maine/East Coast Wizards), 1 goal, 1 assist
• Senior Brandon Mitchell (North Scituate, R.I./Pomfret School), 2 assists
• Senior Sel Narby (Huntington, N.Y./Connecticut Junior Rangers), 2 assists, +3
• Junior Sam Johnson (Freeport, Maine/Walpole Express), 1 goal, 5 blocks
• Junior Connor Redden (Southbury, Conn./Team Maryland), 1 goal
• First-year Case Kantgias (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./North Colorado Eagles), 1 goal
• First-year Jack Macdonald (Baraboo, Wis./Seahawks Hockey Club), 1 goal, +3, 6-for-14 faceoffs
• Junior Matt Schreiner (Falmouth, Mass./Walpole Express), 13-for-19 faceoffs, 1 assist
• Sophomore Marshall Murphy (Little Canada, Minn./Northern Colorado Eagles), 25 saves

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Ryan Gorbett, 2 goals
• Senior Kyle Martin, 22 saves
• Junior Conor Foley, 16-for-24 faceoffs, 1 assist

GAME FACTS

• Eight Purple Knights made their college debuts. Murphy earned the win in his first appearance, while Kantgias and Macdonald both scored their initial college tallies.
• Today's contest was two days shy of the 2008-09 team's modern era program record for the latest opener (Nov. 21).
• Saint Michael's played a countable game for the first time since an NE10 Championship semifinal on Feb. 29, 2020.
• Both teams took 27 shots, while the Purple Knights held a 16-11 edge in blocks. Franklin Pierce had a 37-32 lead in faceoff wins.
• Saint Michael's improved to 22-3-1 in the all-time series.

THE ACTION

• The Purple Knights scored three goals in a matter of 3:12 during the first period to snap a scoreless tie. While facing the boards behind the net, senior Thomas Flack (Toronto, Ontario/Saint Michael's Buzzers) sent a centering pass through his legs out front for an unmarked Stewart, who put a nice move on Martin before finishing in close at 10:05.
• Saint Michael's scored in transition at 12:49, with Stewart sending a breakout pass from his own blue line toward center ice for Mitchell, whose cross-ice stretch pass into the Raven zone found a streaking Kantgias, up from his position on defense. Kantgias went five-hole to make it 2-0, with Mitchell assisting his second goal.
• Just 28 seconds later, Macdonald finished near the left post, picking up a loose puck in the slot after Narby's initial shot from the point was blocked. Senior Matt Egan (Hingham, Mass./Kimball Union Academy) earned the primary assist.
• The Ravens got one back before the end of the period during a power play. Junior Tyler Rudek had an initial shot stopped by Murphy, but the rebound kicked into the slot, where Gorbett finished on an open net with the netminder prone at 18:23.
• Gorbett made it 3-2 at 5:42 of the second frame, one-timing home junior Dom Norris' pass.
• Franklin Pierce was on a power play while looking to tie midway through the third period before five Raven penalties were assessed at 11:27, suddenly putting the Purple Knights on a power play, which soon became a 5-on-3 advantage. Johnson buried a shot from the point with 12:16 gone to push the lead back to two.
• Martin vacated the net in favor of an extra attacker at 17:08, but Redden forced a giveaway at the Franklin Pierce blue line before immediately firing on the empty net to secure the win at 17:44.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday vs. Assumption University, 3 p.m.
• The Purple Knights will be supporting the College's Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts (MOVE) Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week food drive that day, accepting donations of non-perishable food items that will be donated to local food shelves.