WORCESTER, Mass. - Senior Owen Rudicus (Duxbury, Mass./Tabor Academy) and junior Zach Taylor (Hanover, Mass./South Shore Kings) scored 15 seconds apart late in the second period to give the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team the lead for good in a 4-2 victory over Assumption University on Saturday at the Worcester Ice Center. The teams split the Northeast-10 Conference weekend series.
RECORDS
- Saint Michael's (4-6-1, 3-4-1 NE10), Assumption (7-6, 4-3 NE10)
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS
- Rudicus, 1 goal
- Taylor, 1 goal, 9-for-22 faceoffs
- Senior Jeremy Routh (Hamden, Conn./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs), 1 goal, 1 assist
- Sophomore Brennan McFarland (Greeley, Colo./Northern Colorado Eagles), 2 assists
- Sophomore Jack Bavis (West Duxbury, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors), 1 goal, +1
- Senior Matt Schreiner (Falmouth, Mass./Walpole Express), 1 assist, 2 blocks, 14-for-25 faceoffs
- Junior Marshall Murphy (Little Canada, Minn./Northern Colorado Eagles), 32 saves
OPPONENT LEADERS
- Graduate student Michael Zampanti, 1 goal
- Senior Collin Montgomery, 1 goal
- Junior Thomas McLarnon, 19 saves
GAME FACTS
- The Purple Knights improved to 37-23-2 in the all-time series.
- Fifteen of the past 17 meetings have now been decided by two goals or fewer.
- Saint Michael's finished 2-for-4 on the power play.
THE ACTION
- The teams nearly made it through a scoreless opening stanza, but late in the frame, first-year Nick Wracker (Columbia, S.C./Northeast Generals) took a giveaway at the edge of the Assumption zone and found Bavis, who turned in the right circle and snapped a shot to McLarnon's glove side at 15:59.
- Zampanti found the equalizer one minute into the second period, rushing the net and pushing the puck home after senior Colin Philippon's pass from the left circle.
- A harried 1:19 late in the period featured three goals, including two by the visitors. During a power play, McFarland passed from the left boards for Taylor, who moved quickly out front and pushed home the go-ahead marker at 17:50. Just 15 seconds later, Rudicus picked McLarnon's glove side from the left circle for a strike that gave Saint Michael's a 3-1 lead.
- Montgomery halved the deficit at 19:05, carrying nearly the length of the ice before scoring from in close on Murphy, going over his glove-side shoulder.
- Saint Michael's struck again during a power with 12:43 gone in the third period, as Routh's shot from the mid-slot eluded McLarnon to provide the visitors a cushion.
NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME
- Tuesday vs. Castleton University, 7 p.m.
