Skyhawks earn first win over the Purple Knights since 2008

Bill Carey potted two goals to lead the Skyhawks over the Purple Knights.

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (February 14, 2012) – The Stonehill College men's ice hockey team clinched a playoff spot in the upcoming Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) tournament with a commanding 7-3 triumph over Saint Michael's College on Tuesday night in NE-10 action at Cairns Arena.

The Skyhawks, who earned their first win over the Purple Knights since February 26, 2008, will be seeded no worse than third in the NE-10 tournament (head-to-head over Saint Michael's) and can win a share of the regular season championship with Assumption College and Saint Anselm College with a victory over the Hawks on Tuesday, February 21 in Stonehill's regular season finale at the Foxboro Sports Center. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Sophomore forward Bill Carey (Weymouth, Mass.) aided the Skyhawks in matching their highest offensive output of the season with two goals on the night. Junior defenseman J.J. Sabin (Milton, Mass./Tilton School) and freshman forward Stephen Balsamo (Atkinson, N.H./Brewster Academy) added one marker and one helper apiece. Freshman netminder Chris Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass./Thayer Academy) turned away 39 shots including a game-high 15 in the third period.

For Saint Michael's, junior forward Tim McAuliffe (North Reading, Mass./Vermont Academy) led the Purple Knights offensively with a pair of goals and one assist. Senior forward Brady Earle (Columbia, Md./The Gunnery) recorded his seventh goal of the season while juniors Mike Dizgun (Kirkland, Quebec) and Eric McGuirk (Rehoboth, Mass.) combined for 22 saves on the night, 15 and seven, respectively.

Leading 2-1 after one period of play, Stonehill netted three unanswered tallies including the eventual game-winner to claim the victory.

Junior forward George DeMello (Cotuit, Mass./Tabor Academy) jump started the Skyhawks in the stanza with his first goal of the season at the 3:17 mark on a nice feed from senior forward Jordan Fine (Walpole, Mass./St. Sebastian's) for a 3-1 advantage. Balsamo followed with the game-winner 32 seconds later on assists by freshman forward Fabio Cuetara (Irvine, Calif./Cushing Academy) and junior forward Sean McNeil (Canton, Mass./Canton), his third of the season and first-career game-winner. Carey potted his second goal of the contest and eighth of the year, unassisted, at the 12:04 mark to cap the scoring rally.

At 13:37 of the second, McAuliffe answered for the Purple Knights with his third of the season on passes from sophomore defenseman Sam Torney (Shelburne, Vt.) and freshman defenseman John Teulings (Hamden, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) to cut the deficit to 5-2.

Junior defenseman Tyler Gordon (Franklin, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) responded for Stonehill moments later (14:46) to make it 6-2 with his third marker of the season as junior forward Dana Borges (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) and freshman defenseman Oliver Williams (Centerport, N.Y.) facilitated the offense.

Both teams exchanged a pair of goals in the third period as McAuliffe scored his second of the game at 3:12 and Sabin netted an empty net tally, his fourth of the year, at the 19:00 mark.

Stonehill (8-11-2, 5-3-1 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday, February 18 at the Foxboro Sports Center at 2:00 p.m. Saint Michael's (6-15-2, 2-2-1 NE-10) hosts Babson on Friday, February 17 at 7:00 p.m.

- www.stonehillskyhawks.com -