Box Score SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt.—Before a sellout crowd, the Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team turned in one of the best efforts in its modern era against No. 2 Norwich University on Friday, leading the Cadets late in the second period before falling, 5-2, at Cairns Arena. The Purple Knights slipped to 4-11 overall and 1-9 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East, while the Cadets are 14-2 and 9-1. Norwich is ranked second in this week's U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division III national poll.
The Purple and Gold, winless against the Cadets since its modern era began in 1982-83, stood tied more than seven minutes into the third period and did not yield the winner until a little more than seven minutes remained. Sophomore Dave Donzanti made 30 saves, while senior Rich Rodeschini and first-year Kevin Altidor scored for the hosts.
In a 2-2 game nearly midway through the third, senior
Kyle Thomas (Waltham, Mass.) was stopped out front by Donzanti, but Forkey slipped in a shot at 7:08 for the winner. Lyrvall's slapper from the blue line made it 4-2 at 12:48 before Purple Knight senior Colby MacDonald had a bid to close the gap ring the crossbar with 1:50 to go. Allan added an empty netter 33 seconds later.
Donzanti kept the Purple Knights close with 11 first-period saves. In the first minute, with Donzanti sliding toward the far post, junior
Chris Duszynski (Okotoks, Alberta/Okotoks Oilers) was denied when the goalie reached back with his glove hand and blindly plucked away the puck at the goal line. Morgan netted the period's lone tally after 3:40, jamming in a loose puck on the doorstep.
The Purple Knights charged ahead in the second period, when they held a 9-6 shots edge, with a pair of tallies in 2:29. During a 5-on-3 power play, junior Ryan Arsenault slipped a pass into the slot, where Altidor went five-hole at 5:51. In a 50-second stretch later in the stanza, MacDonald and first-year Brodie McCusker both hit the post, but on McCusker's, Rodeschini crashed the open net and made it 2-1 at 8:20. However, at the 15-minute mark, Allan picked the upper left-hand corner to knot the game, which is where the teams stood for the second intermission.
The Cadets are idle until Friday, Jan. 25 when they travel to Maine to take on the University of New England in ECAC East action at 7:00 p.m. Norwich will also be in action on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. when it faces the University of Southern Maine.
Courtesy of Saint Michael's Sports Information
