SHELTON, Conn. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team vaulted into second place in the Northeast-10 Conference standings by virtue of a 3-1 victory over Post University on Friday at the Sports Center of Connecticut during the penultimate day of the regular season.

The Purple Knights have 35 points and passed Assumption University (34), which lost to Southern New Hampshire University, 3-2, to take over second place. Saint Anselm College (37) maintained its hold on first place thanks to a 5-3 victory over Franklin Pierce University. With the NE10 regular-season title still up for grabs on Saturday, the teams that end up No. 1 and 2 in the league will earn first-round byes into next Saturday's semifinals. The third- through sixth-place squads will play in Tuesday's first round.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (12-11-1, 11-7-1 NE10), Post (6-20-2, 4-13-2 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Junior Zach Taylor (Hanover, Mass./South Shore Kings), 1 goal, 1 assist, 15-for-22 faceoffs
• Senior Jeremy Routh (Hamden, Conn./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs), 1 goal
• First-year Jake Leale (Suffern, N.Y./Connecticut RoughRiders), 1 goal
• First-year Quinn McCarthy (Melrose, Mass./Holderness School), 1 assist, +2
• Junior Marshall Murphy (Little Canada, Minn./Northern Colorado Eagles), 32 saves
• Senior Matt Schreiner (Falmouth, Mass./Walpole Express), 14-for-20 faceoffs
• Senior Sam Johnson (Freeport, Maine/Walpole Express), 3 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Niko Grollman, 1 goal
• Sophomore Drew Blodgett, 29 saves

GAME FACTS

• Leale netted his first college goal, which went as the game-winner.
• Routh has totaled 19 points in the last 11 games on seven goals and 12 assists.
• Saint Michael's improved to 5-2 in its last seven games.
• The Purple Knights won their first game when scoring fewer than four goals since a 2-1 victory over Albertus Magnus College on Oct. 29.
• Saint Michael's won the season series from Post, currently holding a 3-0 lead heading into tomorrow's finale.
• The Purple and Gold held a 40-23 lead in faceoff wins, while the Eagles had a 33-32 edge in shots.

THE ACTION

• Taylor gave Saint Michael's a 1-0 lead only 3:42 after the opening faceoff, whipping a shot from the far edge of the left circle past Blodgett, with first-year Ashton Allain (Brentwood, Tenn./Walpole Express) setting him up. The scoring chance was initially created thanks to sophomore David Ciancio's (Scituate, R.I./Seahawks Hockey Club) stretch pass from his own zone, which sent Taylor across the Eagle blue line.
• The Purple Knights doubled their advantage at 6:12 of the second period. After senior Paulius Macijauskas (Kėdainiai, Lithuania/Rice Memorial Prep) tossed a puck from the left point into bodies out front, Leale's extra effort near the left post paid off with his first college goal.
• With Blodgett pulled for an extra skater, Grollman scored at 18:57 of the third period on a second effort to bring Post within a goal.
• However, Taylor blocked an Eagle entry pass headed for the slot soon thereafter before dishing the loose puck to Routh, who scored on the empty net from his own blue line with 15 seconds to go.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday at Post, 2:15 p.m.