NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - First-year Aj Sacco (Middleton, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) scored his first two college goals to help the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team defeat Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 5-2, on Saturday in Foote Rink. The victory was the first of Jack Fitzgerald's college head coaching career.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (1-0-1), MCLA (0-1-1)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sacco, 2 goals, +2
• Junior Hans Forselius (Guilford, Conn./Seahawks Hockey Club), 1 goal, 1 assist
• Sophomore Cole Douglas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy), 2 assists
• Senior Quinn McCarthy (Melrose, Mass./Holderness School), 1 goal, +2
• Junior Ty Bloom (Helena, Mont./Helena Bighorns), 1 goal, 8-for-16 faceoffs
• Sophomore Evan Plunkett (Charlotte, N.C./Holderness School), 26 saves
• Sophomore Jack Tuite (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Springfield Jr. Pics), 8-for-18 faceoffs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Cade Herrera, 1 goal
• Junior Sean Schifferl, 1 goal
• Sophomore Matthew Ryynanen, 15 saves in 16:58, loss
• First-year Rocco Stoltz, 26 saves in 42:37 of relief

GAME FACTS

• Saint Michael's held a 46-28 lead in shots and a 12-10 edge in blocks.
• The Purple Knights picked up their first win in three all-time contests on MCLA's home ice.

THE ACTION

• Herrera opened the scoring 5:14 into the contest, banking a shot from behind the net off of Plunkett, but Forselius knotted the game just 1:57 later, banging home a rebound of junior Ben Nichols' (Andover, Mass./Curry College) shot from the point. Douglas also had a shot saved during the sequence.
• Bloom put the Purple Knights ahead at 16:19 of the opening stanza, netting a power-play goal from the mid-slot thanks to assists from sophomore Sj Lecomte (Port Monmouth, N.J./Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings) and first-year Evan Dresser (Everett, Mass./Belmont Hill School).
• Sacco scored just 39 seconds later, taking a giveaway deep in the MCLA end and quickly shooting on the surprised netminder.
• The visitors held a 13-7 edge in shots during a scoreless second period.
• Schifferl took a teammate's feed into the slot and cut the Trailblazers' deficit to 3-2 3:14 into the third period.
• McCarthy reestablished the two-goal cushion on a power play at 7:26, picking up a loose puck after Forselius' centering pass was blocked, with the shot slowly trickling through. Douglas again assisted.
• With a little more than a minute to go and the MCLA net empty, Sacco took a turnover at the blue line and carried through the right circle prior to finishing on the vacated cage.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Friday at Saint Anselm College, 6 p.m.