COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey sophomore goalie Evan Plunkett (Charlotte, N.C./Holderness School) was named to the Northeast 10 Conference All-Conference second team on Thursday, as voted upon by the league's head coaches. First-year forward Aj Sacco (Middleton, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) was among six student-athletes chosen for the NE10 All-Rookie Team.
 
Plunkett repeats on the NE10 All-Conference second team, becoming the first goaltender in program annals to land multiple all-league accolades. He is the initial Purple Knight at any position to earn NE10 All-Conference as both a first-year and sophomore. Plunkett is among 14 all-league honorees this year, with seven placed on each team. Sacco becomes the seventh Purple Knight in as many seasons to claim an NE10 All-Rookie Team honor.
 
Plunkett is tied for the NE10 lead in wins (13) and is second in save percentage (.945) and goals-against average (1.96) and tied for second in shutouts (2). He is fifth in NCAA men's ice hockey across all divisions in save percentage and reset his own school marks for save percentage (.935) and GAA (2.22), recorded in 2024-25. With 64 saves in a triple-overtime loss to Saint Anselm College in Saturday's NE10 Championship semifinal round, he tied yet another program record, matching Bill Heney's '92 standard set on Dec. 8, 1990.
 
Plunkett already holds the school record for career shutouts (6) and enters his junior year first at Saint Michael's in save percentage (.940) and GAA (2.07) and tied for fourth in victories (27). He was recently named a semifinalist for the Joe Concannon Award, recognizing the top American-born player at an NCAA Division II or III school in New England.
 
Sacco finished his rookie year with 10 goals and eight assists, including five goals and two helpers in the final five contests. In the process, he tied Michel Dupont's '98 29-year-old school record for game-winners in a season (5), leaving him tied for first in the NE10 in that category and eighth in goals per game. Among all NCAA men's ice first-year players across the three divisions, he is one winner shy of national leader Will Zeller of Division I University of North Dakota. Sacco posted multiple points four times, including on three occasions over the final five games.
 
At 16-12-3, the Purple Knights claimed the No. 2 seed in the NE10 Championship under first-year head coach Jack Fitzgerald and hosted a semifinal for the fourth consecutive season.