BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team capped its regular season with a 4-2 loss to Stonehill College on Saturday during a Northeast-10 Conference contest in the Bridgewater Ice Arena.

With the setback, the Purple Knights claim the No. 5 seed in the upcoming NE10 Championship and will visit No. 4 Post University for a first-round game next Saturday, finishing mere percentage points behind the Eagles.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (7-13, 7-9 NE10), Stonehill (6-16-2, 3-10-2 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• First-year David Ciancio (Scituate, R.I./Seahawks Hockey Club), 1 goal
• First-year Case Kantgias (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Northern Colorado Eagles), 1 goal
• Senior Thomas Flack (Toronto, Ontario/Saint Michael's Buzzers), 1 assist, 9-for-18 faceoffs
• Senior Matt Egan (Hingham, Mass./Kimball Union Academy), 1 assist, 5-for-7 faceoffs
• Senior Sel Narby (Huntington, N.Y./Connecticut Junior Rangers), 1 assist
• Senior Cameron Stewart (Sabattus, Maine/East Coast Wizards), 1 assist
• Sophomore Marshall Murphy (Little Canada, Minn./Northern Colorado Eagles), 22 saves
• Junior Matt Schreiner (Falmouth, Mass./Walpole Express), 9-for-14 faceoffs
• Senior Brandon Mitchell (North Scituate, R.I./Pomfret School), 7-for-10 faceoffs
• Junior Nathan Smith (Wildwood, Mo./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs), 6-for-9 faceoffs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Mike Seoane, 1 goal, 1 assist, 17-for-33 faceoffs
• Junior Brendan Nehmer, 1 goal
• Junior John Peloso, 1 goal
• First-year Jake Cady, 1 goal
• Senior Chase McKay, 31 saves

GAME FACTS

• Saint Michael's held leads in faceoff wins (44-31) and shots (33-26).
• If not for an empty-net goal with three seconds left, this would have been the seventh time in the last nine meetings the teams were separated by one goal or less.
• Kantgias netted his program-rookie-record eighth power-play goal of the season. He leads all NE10 defensemen in goals (11) and power-play tallies, with each coming in conference play. During NE10 action alone, Kantgias leads all skaters in power-play goals while taking third in goals.

THE ACTION

• Saint Michael's held a 13-7 lead in shots during a scoreless opening frame.
• Kantgias one-timed a power-play goal from the left circle 59 seconds into the second period, converting Narby's pass. Egan also assisted.
• Just 31 seconds later, Peloso outraced Purple Knights to a loose puck and continued behind the defense before firing over Murphy's glove-side shoulder.
• Only 1:22 after that, at 2:52, Cady backhanded home a rebound to put the Skyhawks in front.
• Ciancio drew the Purple Knight even at 13:48, tallying from the right circle after movement from Stewart and Flack.
• Seoane gave Stonehill the final lead 1:30 later during a power play, toe dragging around a sliding defender before picking the corner of the net over Murphy's glove hand.
• The Purple Knights drew a power-play chance at 14:40 of the third period while looking to tie, but Kantgias' two bids during that time were stopped by McKay.
• Murphy was pulled in favor of an extra skater at 17:53, and two more Kantgias attempts were stopped, including one with 15 seconds left. Following a Mitchell faceoff win, a change of possession led to Nehmer firing from his own right circle on an open net to ice the victory with three seconds to go.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday at Post in NE10 Championship first-round game, time TBA