Junior goaltender Chris Tasioloulos posted 23 saves in the Skyhawks goal tonight. (PHOTO BY Emily Reynolds)

Purple Knights score twice in third period to advance past Skyhawks

FOXBORO, Mass. (February 22, 2014) – The Stonehill College ice hockey team let a third period lead slip away as Saint Michael's College completed a 2-1 comeback victory in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship semifinal tonight at the Foxboro Sports Center. Saint Michael's advances to take on Southern New Hampshire University in next Saturday's NE-10 Championship final, as the Penmen defeated Saint Anselm College tonight in the other semifinal matchup.

Freshman Danny Divis (Media, Pa./The Gunnery), the highest scoring defenseman in the NE-10 this season with 22 points, potted the go-ahead goal with 8:42 remaining in the game to help the Purple Knights snap Stonehill's program record ten-game winning streak.

Less than two minutes earlier, Stonehill sophomore forward Richard Harris (Grand Island, N.Y., Valley Jr. Warriors) was unable to convert on a penalty shot opportunity that would have given the Skyhawks the lead at the 9:37 mark of the third period. Harris' penalty shot came after Saint Michael's senior defenseman Kevin Lampron (Boston, Mass./Bridgewater Bandits) was whistled for tripping Stonehill sophomore forward Anthony D'Elia (Stamford, Conn./Gunnery School) from behind, sending him crashing into the Saint Michael's net.

Sophomore Willy Baker scored the lone Stonehill goal three minutes into the first period. (PHOTO BY Emily Reynolds)

Stonehill led for the majority of the contest, as sophomore forward Willy Baker (Suffern, N.Y./Hill School) scored his second goal in as many games just 3:17 into the first period.

The Skyhawks played undermanned for a good portion of the second period, but the Northeast-10's best penalty killing team (84.9 %) kept Saint Michael's off the board by killing off all three of the Purple Knights' power plays in the frame.

Stonehill got itself into more trouble early in the third period, as sophomore Garrett White (Wakefield, Mass./Pomfret School) was called for a tripping penalty at the 1:35 mark, and 33 seconds later the Skyhawks were penalized for having too many men on the ice, giving the Purple Knights a 5-on-3 opportunity. Stonehill again avoided damage by killing off the power play, with the help of several saves from junior netminder Chris Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass./Thayer Academy).

Saint Michael's finally broke through 6:19 into the third period, when freshman defenseman Stephen Inman (Coventry, R.I./Odessa Jackalopes) beat Tasiopoulos for his fourth goal of the season. Senior forward Ryan Arsenault (Reading, Mass./New Hampton School) provided the assist on Inman's equalizer.

Stonehill pulled Tasiopoulos with 1:20 left in the contest and had several solid opportunities to tie the game. Senior captain Bryan Rooney (Canton, Mass./New Hampton School) had a clean look in front of the net with 13 seconds on the clock, but he was unable to get the puck past Saint Michael's junior goaltender Dave Donzanti (West Chester, Pa./Northfield Mt. Hermon).

After allowing Stonehill's only goal of the night in the early portion of the opening frame, Donzanti was great between the pipes, making 26 saves. He stopped all 20 of the shots that he saw in the second and third periods to pick up his sixth win of the season. On the other end, Tasiopoulos made 23 saves for the Skyhawks.

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