SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The defending Northeast 10 Conference champion Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team opened a two-game exhibition game slate by losing to New England College, 3-1, on Saturday at Cairns Arena. The contest was the Purple Knights' first under new head coach Jack Fitzgerald.
 
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sophomore Roman Winicki (Setauket, N.Y./Philadelphia Hockey Club), 1 goal
• First-year Evan Dresser (Everett, Mass./Belmont Hill School), 1 assist
• Junior Ty Bloom (Helena, Mont./Helena Bighorns), 11-for-16 faceoffs
• Senior Jake Lincourt (Smithfield, R.I./Walpole Express), 6-for-9 faceoffs, 2 blocked shots
• Sophomore Jack Tuite (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Springfield Jr. Pics), 4-for-8 faceoffs
• Senior Jackson Cole (Newark, Del./Vernal Oilers), 17 saves in 1st period
• Sophomore Evan Plunkett (Charlotte, N.C./Holderness School), 18 saves in 2nd period
• Senior Cole Manahan (Hermantown, Minn./Vernal Oilers), 8 saves in 3rd period
• Senior Jake Leale (Suffern, N.Y./Connecticut RoughRiders), 3 blocked shots

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Sophomore Egor Osipik, 1 goal
• First-year Jaeseok Lee, 1 goal
• First-year Tiago Vinterberg, 1 goal
• Sophomore Anthony Beaulieu, 11 saves in 1st period
• Sophomore Vladimir Maksimov, 10 saves in 2nd period
• Senior Danny Miscavish, 12 saves in 3rd period

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights held a 35-31 lead in faceoff wins, while the Pilgrims had a 46-34 shot advantage.

THE ACTION

• Winicki put the hosts ahead 3:04 after the opening faceoff, one-timing home Dresser's cross to the right circle.
• Osipik found the equalizer at 15:11 of the first period before Vinterberg finished for the winner 2:01 into the second frame.
• With a little more than a second left in regulation and Manahan pulled for an extra attacker, Lee stole the puck in front of the Purple Knight net and tallied on the empty cage.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Wednesday at Keene State College, 6:30 p.m. exhibition game.