SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team opened the 2023-24 season with a 2-2 exhibition game draw against Wentworth Institute of Technology on Friday at Cairns Arena.
 
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Junior David Ciancio (Scituate, R.I./Seahawks Hockey Club), 1 goal, 3 blocks
• Sophomore Quinn McCarthy (Melrose, Mass./Holderness School), 1 goal
• Senior Marshall Murphy (Little Canada, Minn./Northern Colorado Eagles), 39 saves
• Senior Zach Taylor (Hanover, Mass./South Shore Kings), 1 assist, 9 faceoff wins
• Junior Ryland Dukes (Nashville, Tenn./Walpole Express), 1 assist, 7 faceoff wins
• First-year Hans Forselius (Guilford, Conn./Seahawks Hockey Club), 1 assist
• Sophomore Jake Lincourt (Smithfield, R.I./Walpole Express), 7-for-13 faceoffs
• Junior Jack Macdonald (Baraboo, Wis./Seahawks Hockey Club), 5 faceoff wins, 3 blocks
• Junior Case Kantgias (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Northern Colorado Eagles), 4 blocks
• Sophomore Ashton Allain (Brentwood, Tenn./Walpole Express), 3 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• First-year Dane Probe, 2 assists
• Senior Matt Smoliga, 1 goal
• Sophomore Nikolas Sombrowski, 1 goal
• Senior Will Oliver, 25 saves

THE ACTION

• Sombrowski put Wentworth in front just 1:50 after the opening faceoff, picking Murphy's glove shoulder from the left circle.
• Saint Michael's leveled the score at 4:55, as Forelius saw an initial shot saved during a power play before McCarthy roofed a backhander on the rebound.
• Murphy kept it tied with 6:45 gone by denying graduate student Brendan Young's one-timer with his blocker after Young got behind the defense to the doorstep.
• Ciancio made it 2-1 at 13:05, sending in a shot from the point for a power-play strike with junior Brennan McFarland (Greeley, Colo./Northern Colorado Eagles) screening Oliver after Taylor forced a takeaway behind the net.
• In the second frame, Murphy made a spectacular save of senior Charlie Reid with 6:30 gone, reaching behind him for a paddle stop at the goal line.
• Smoliga leveled the teams once more 35 seconds into the third period, putting home a rebound after sophomore Ian Worthley mis-struck a shot from the slot and sent it toward Smoliga at the left post.
• Murphy ensured overtime by turning Smoliga's point-blank bid away with 35 seconds left in regulation.
• Worthley had a pair of good looks early in the extra session, tipping a shot from the doorstep into Murphy's body at 1:25 before the netminder also stopped his bid from low in the right circle 30 seconds later.
• During a power play late in overtime, McFarland put a one-timer on net that Oliver stopped between his pads. The Purple Knights gained a two-man power play with 15.7 seconds to go but were unable to send another shot on goal.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday at State University of New York at Plattsburgh, 7 p.m. exhibition game.