SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - Southern New Hampshire University junior George Thurston, the Northeast-10 Conference co-leader in goals, scored with 1:51 left in overtime on Saturday to fell the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team, 5-4, on Senior Day in Cairns Arena. The Purple Knights left the two-game weekend series against the NE10-leading Penmen with three points, having won on Friday, 9-1.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (5-12, 5-8 NE10), Southern New Hampshire (13-5, 11-2 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Sel Narby (Huntington, N.Y./Connecticut Junior Rangers), 1 goal, 1 assist
• Sophomore Zach Taylor (Hanover, Mass./South Shore Kings), 1 goal, 1 assist, 17-for-23 faceoffs
• Junior Jeremy Routh (Hamden, Conn./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs), 1 goal
• Junior Owen Rudicus (Duxbury, Mass./Tabor Academy), 1 goal
• Senior Hugo Turcotte (Gap, France/Kimball Union Academy), 39 saves
• Senior Andrew DeCristoforo (Medway, Mass./South Shore Kings), 6 blocks
• Junior Matt Schreiner (Falmouth, Mass./Walpole Express), 13-for-19 faceoffs
• Senior Thomas Flack (Toronto, Ontario/Saint Michael's Buzzers), 11-for-20 faceoffs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Thurston, 1 goal
• Senior Jake Cox, 2 assists
• Junior Tim Usalis, 2 assists
• Senior Adam Mercer, 39 saves

GAME FACTS

• Saint Michael's held a 49-31 lead in faceoff wins while being edged in shots, 44-43.
• The Purple and Gold was 2-for-4 on the power play, finishing the weekend 8-for-15.
• Eight of the Purple Knights' losses have come by two goals or fewer, including in six of their eight NE10 setbacks.
• Saint Michael's is 4-2 in its last six meetings with the Penmen, with both losses by one goal.
• Nine of Southern New Hampshire's 11 NE10 wins have come by two goals or less, including in its first meeting with Saint Michael's, a 3-2 victory on Dec. 3.
• Mercer, the league leader in goals-against average (2.41), had yielded as many as four goals only one other time this year.
• Seventeen members of the classes of 2021 and 2022 were recognized during a postgame ceremony: DeCristoforo, Flack, Narby, Turcotte, Paul Cerdà '21, Niall Foster '21, Ethan Hendrickson '21, Paul McAuliffe '21, Noah Muller '21, Andrew Olevitz '21, Zach Sullivan '21, Tyler Dorval (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool), Matt Egan (Hingham, Mass./Kimball Union Academy), Brandon Mitchell (North Scituate, R.I./Pomfret School), Colin O'Connor (North Haven, Conn./Connecticut RoughRiders), Cameron Stewart (Sabattus, Maine/East Coast Wizards) and manager Thomas Ryan (Walpole, Mass./Xaverian Brothers).

THE ACTION

• Routh put the Purple Knights on top just 3:34 into the game, picking up the puck behind his own net before going coast-to-coast, firing from the Penmen left circle and finding space above Mercer's glove-side shoulder.
• Saint Michael's went ahead 2-0 on a power play at 10:59, with first-year Brennan McFarland (Greeley, Colo./Northern Colorado Eagles) and Taylor making quick passes out front before Narby finished.
• Sophomore Matt Amante cut into the lead at 13:33, putting home a rebound at the left post, and senior Travis Quigley leveled the teams at 9:11 of the second period, cashing in on a failed clear near the net.
• The Purple Knights went back in front with 14:54 gone, as Rudicus buried a one-timer out front following junior Connor Redden's (Southbury, Conn./Team Maryland) pass. Flack also assisted.
• During a power play, senior Phil Heisse struck for the tying goal 1:58 later, scoring from the right point directly off of first-year Jack Gray's faceoff win.
• Junior Matt Monreal gave the Penmen a 4-3 lead heading into the third period with a goal at 18:49, burying a one-timer from the left circle.
• Saint Michael's tied the game just 31 seconds into the third stanza, as Taylor tipped home first-year Case Kantgias' (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Northern Colorado Eagles) shot from the right point during a power play. Narby also assisted.
• The teams headed to 3-on-3 overtime, where Saint Michael's won all three faceoffs, including two by Taylor, and controlled possession time, but the Penmen put the only three shots on goal. Turcotte smothered Thurston's shot from the left circle 49 seconds in before stoning Monreal from point-blank range with 2:19 gone.
• After the Penmen came into possession near their own blue line, Cox and Thurston exchanged passes before Thurston moved from the right boards into the left circle and went over the netminder's glove-side shoulder at 3:09 for the winner.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Tuesday against Stonehill College at Norwich University, 7 p.m.