SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The second-seeded Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team lost the longest game in program and Northeast 10 Conference history on Saturday night, falling to No. 3 Saint Anselm College, 3-2, in triple overtime during an NE10 Championship semifinal at Cairns Arena. First-year defenseman Alec O'Connor scored the game-winning goal 6:08 into the third extra session. During the loss, sophomore Evan Plunkett (Charlotte, N.C./Holderness School) tied a Saint Michael's program record with 64 saves.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (16-12-3), Saint Anselm (14-13-4)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Plunkett, 64 saves
• Sophomore Sj LeComte (Port Monmouth, N.J./Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings), 1 goal
• First-year Aj Sacco (Middleton, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club), 1 goal
• Junior Ty Bloom (Helena, Mont./Helena Bighorns), 1 assisted, 4 blocked shots, 9 faceoff wins
• Senior Ashton Allain (Brentwood, Tenn./Walpole Express), 1 assist, 3 blocked shots
• Senior Quinn McCarthy (Melrose, Mass./Holderness School), 1 assist
• Sophomore Ian Wolanin (Pomfret, Conn./HC Rhode Island), 1 assist
• Sophomore Jack Tuite (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Springfield Jr. Pics), 19-for-42 faceoffs
• First-year Marshall Thomas (Canton, Mass./Ironwood Lumberjacks), 14-for-22 faceoffs
• Senior Jake Leale (Suffern, N.Y./Connecticut RoughRiders), 3 blocked shots
• Senior Kyle Lee (Buffalo, N.Y./Finlandia University), 3 blocked shots
• Sophomore Cole Douglas (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy), 3 blocked shots

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Chris Cordeiro, 1 goal, 1 assist
• Sophomore Conor Kelly, 1 goal, 1 assist
• O'Connor, 1 goal
• Junior Cam Carroll, 49 saves

GAME FACTS

• By playing 106 minutes and eight seconds, the teams exceeded the previous longest game in NE10 history by three minutes and 43 seconds, after Saint Anselm downed Assumption University, 2-1, during a 2019 NE10 semifinal. That contest lasted 102:25.
• Saint Michael's had never played more than two overtimes prior to Saturday, and only once had gone even to two extra sessions - in a 4-3 victory against Westfield State University on the State University of New York at Brockport's home ice on Nov. 2, 1985. That game ended at 81:15.
• Plunkett's 64 saves tied a school mark Bill Heney '92 set a Fitchburg State University on Dec. 8, 1990. In the process, Plunkett shattered his own program records for season goals-against average (1.96) and save percentage (.945) after toting 2.22 and .935 last season.
• For the second straight season, the Purple Knights set school records for GAA (2.30) and save percentage (.939), after recording 2.40 and .929 during their NE10 championship season of 2024-25. In all, they allowed two goals or fewer 20 times in 31 games while yielding two through regulation in three additional overtime setbacks.
• McCarthy concluded his career with 93 points.
• The Purple Knights lost at home for just the fourth time in 15 conference semifinals, as Saint Michael's and Saint Anselm met for the 13th time in the postseason, but for the first time in Vermont since 2015.
• Saint Michael's earned the right to host an NE10 Championship semifinal for the fourth straight season.

THE ACTION

• Kelly put Saint Anselm ahead at 6:05 of the first period, getting behind the final defender and taking sophomore Justin Tremblay's pass off the wall before skating in alone on Plunkett. Only 52 seconds later, Cordeiro added to the lead, pushing the puck home following first-year Isac Martins' faceoff win to Plunkett's left.
• Plunkett stuffed senior John Myers' bid from between the circles at 12:24 before making a blocker save of Tremblay with 16:17 gone.
• Tuite's wraparound was turned away by Carroll at 3:59 of the second period before the Hawks cleared the loose puck out of the crease with the netminder out of the play.
• Sacco put the Purple Knights on the board at 11:06, picking the far side of the net from the left circle after playing McCarthy's pass off the wall. Allain also assisted.
• Plunkett maintained the one-goal margin with a pad save of senior Michael Martignetti's shorthanded bid from the right circle at 16:38.
• LeComte struck for the tying goal at 3:46 of the third period, hammering home Bloom's cross-ice pass out front. Wolanin added a helper after poking the puck from a Hawk in his own zone.
• Sacco later rung the right post at 12:51 before first-year defender Evan Dresser (Everett, Mass./Belmont Hill School) wiped out Saint Anselm's 4-on-2 rush into the zone by blocking a pass and clearing at 18:27.
• Sophomore Keaton Richards had a good look out front with 49 seconds to go but sent a shot wide while under pressure, and the teams headed to overtime.
• Plunkett ensured a second extra session with a quartet of critical stops during Hawk power plays over the final 2:54 of the initial overtime, including a right pad save of O'Connor at 18:40 and a blocker denial of junior Patrick DeMarinis with 12 seconds to go.
• Plunkett smothered Collins' bid during a power play with his body near the right post 55 seconds into the second overtime period before Saint Michael's had a holden opportunity around 3:15, when Tuite hit the post and McCarthy saw consecutive shots stopped by a prone Carroll.
• Carroll waited out LeComte's move to make a pad save at 16:39 before Plunkett turned away sophomore Brendan Manning with his blocker at 18:36.
• Junior Brayden Naumann's (Boston, Mass./Dexter Southfield School) last-second shot was saved by Carroll, forcing a third overtime stanza.
• Junior Hans Forselius (Guilford, Conn./Seahawks Hockey Club) was stopped by Carroll's blocker 1:42 into the sixth period before the goalie made a spectacular denial of LeComte with his left pad at 3:49.
• After Kelly was stopped by Plunkett for his 64th save at 6:05, Cordeiro fed the rebound into the slot for O'Connor, who connected on a one-timer 106:08 into the contest.