SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team resumed Northeast 10 Conference action by defeating Southern New Hampshire University, 3-2, on Friday evening in Cairns Arena. The Purple Knights, who played their first NE10 game since Dec. 6, moved into second place in the league with the win.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (10-6-3, 5-2-2 NE10), Southern New Hampshire (6-8-1, 2-6-1 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Quinn McCarthy (Melrose, Mass./Holderness School), 1 goal, 1 assist
• Sophomore Jack Tuite (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Springfield Jr. Pics), 1 goal, 1 assist
• Junior Ben Baxter (Hyannis, Mass./Seahawks Hockey Club), 2 assists
• Junior Hans Forselius (Guilford, Conn./Seahawks Hockey Club), 1 goal
• Sophomore Evan Plunkett (Charlotte, N.C./Holderness School), 38 saves
• Junior Ty Bloom (Helena, Mont./Helena Bighorns), 11-for-20 faceoffs
• Sophomore Patrick Last (Derry, N.H./Twin City Thunder), 4-for-8 faceoffs
• First-year Evan Dresser (Everett, Mass./Belmont Hill School), 3 blocked shots

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Tyler Murray, 1 goal
• First-year Aidan Rufa, 1 goal
• Junior Sean Guerin, 15 saves

GAME FACTS

• Each of Forselius' last three goals went as game-winners, all in five games since Jan. 6, as he has accounted for the winner in each of the Purple Knights' last three victories. He entered Jan. 6 without a game-winner in 61 career contests before scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 win at Wesleyan University, just 30 minutes from his hometown.
• Plunkett tied Derek Jackson '07 for eighth in program history in career wins (22).
• The Purple Knights have allowed two goals or less 14 times in 19 games this season.

THE ACTION

• The Purple Knights cashed in on their only power play of the evening with 6:40 gone in the first period. McCarthy worked the puck down to the goal line for Baxter, who fed Tuite for a one-timer from the slot past Guerin's glove for the go-ahead strike.
• The trio reversed the sequence for another tally at 18:23, as Baxter tipped Tuite's pass in open ice before McCarthy caught up with the puck at the far edge of the right circle, where he swept a crossing pass that ricocheted off of a Penman skater out front and eluded Guerin.
• Rufa got one goal back at 1:43 of the second period, one-timing a power-play goal home from high in the left circle.
• Saint Michael's reestablished the two-goal lead at 17:58, as first-year Marshall Thomas (Canton, Mass./Ironwood Lumberjacks) ripped a shot just over the left corner of the goal from the left circle, but the puck rebounded off the end boards directly to Forselius, who jammed in the eventual winner near the right post. First-year Aj Sacco (Middleton, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) also assisted.
• Southern New Hampshire cut the deficit to 3-2 4:19 into the third period on an unusual play. After Last won a faceoff in the right circle, the puck got caught in the referee's skates, and junior Austin Hirschberger poked it free to center Murray, who slipped a shot past Plunkett.
• The Penmen took the game's final eight shots, including as a sprawling Plunkett turned away a final bid just before the buzzer with the visitors playing with six skaters.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday vs. Southern New Hampshire, 3 p.m.