SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The second-seeded Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team defeated No. 3 Southern New Hampshire University, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon during a Northeast-10 Conference Championship semifinal at Cairns Arena, punching its ticket to the title game for the second time in three years.
 
The Purple Knights, who avenged a home semifinal loss to the Penmen in last year's tournament, will visit No. 1 Saint Anselm College for the championship game next Saturday. The Hawks picked up a 3-2 win in overtime against No. 4 Assumption University, the defending league champion, in Saturday's other semifinal.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (17-11-2), Southern New Hampshire (12-15-2)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• First-year Patrick Last (Derry, N.H./Twin City Thunder), 2 goals, 5-for-11 faceoffs
• Senior Ryland Dukes (Nashville, Tenn./Walpole Express), 1 goal
• First-year Evan Plunkett (Charlotte, N.C./Holderness School), 35 saves
• Sophomore Ty Bloom (Helena, Mont./Helena Bighorns), 9-for-20 faceoffs
• Senior David Ciancio (Scituate, R.I./Seahawks Hockey Club), 3 blocked shots
• Senior Case Kantgias (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Northern Colorado Eagles), 3 blocked shots

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Ryan Pomposelli, 1 goal
• Junior Brendan Lynch, 1 assist, 16-for-29 faceoffs
• Sophomore Collin Berke, 20 saves

GAME FACTS

• Last entered the day with one goal in 23 contests this season, while Dukes had no goals in 21 outings.
• Senior Brennan McFarland (Greeley, Colo./Northern Colorado Eagles) increased his career point total to 99 while tying Ryan Mero '09 for ninth in program history with 68 assists.
• Plunkett has made at least 32 saves in his last six of his last seven games.  
• Saint Michael's tied the 1996-97 team for second in school annals in wins (17).
• The Purple and Gold improved to 11-3 in home semifinals.
• The Penmen outshot the Purple Knights, 36-23, and held a narrow 37-35 faceoff win advantage. The Purple Knights blocked 13 shots to the Penmen's 11.

THE ACTION

• Last scored the first goal of the game at 11:23 in the first period on a shot in front of the crease to give the Purple Knights a 1-0 lead on a centering pass from first-year Roman Winicki (Setauket, N.Y./Philadelphia Hockey Club), whose strong stickwork along the end boards prolonged his team's possession.
• Plunkett made 12 saves in the first period to keep the Penmen off the board.
• Pomposelli scored for the Penmen at 18:51 in the second period to equalize just before the buzzer, converting after Lynch forced a giveaway behind the net.
• Last picked the upper right corner for his second goal of the afternoon at 6:04 in the third period after a centering pass from McCarthy.   
• After the Penmen pulled Berke for an extra skater at 18:32, Plunkett stopped all four shots sent his way in the next 1:02, and Dukes scored an empty-net goal with 14 seconds remaining to secure the victory.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday at Saint Anselm, TBA time in NE10 Championship title game.