Men's Ice Hockey

Men's Ice Hockey Upsets Trinity, 3-2

      
January 20, 2006                                                                            
Contact: Daniel O’Reilly
Phone: (802) 654-2929

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Saint Michael's College men’s ice hockey team (6-7-2, 3-5-2 ECAC East) defeated Trinity College (7-6-1, 4-4-1 NESCAC), 3-2, on Friday evening at Cairns Arena. The win marked just the second victory for the Purple Knights in 10 all-time meetings with the Bantams, and the first since the team’s 6-5 overtime win on January 25, 1985.

For Trinity, freshman Ryan Masucci (Winthrop, Mass./New Hampshire Monarchs) and senior Cameron Finch (Acton, Mass./Lawrence Academy) each scored, while senior Henry Breslin (Hampton, N.H./Saint Marks) and junior Drew Barber (Vestal, N.Y./South Kent) had 16 and five saves respectively.
               
For the Purple Knights, senior Alex Watts (Cheshire, Conn./Berkshire School) scored a pair of goals, and sophomore Erik Caron (Kanata Ontario/Smith Falls) contributed two assists, while junior Derek Jackson (Clinton, N.Y./Gunnery School) stopped 38 shots.
               
During the opening frame, Trinity out shot Saint Michael's, 8-4, and neither side was able to light the lamp, with each team going 0-1 on the power play. Jonathan Perez (Sherman Oaks, Calif/Berkshire School) had perhaps the best scoring chance of the period, taking an unobstructed shot from between the two face-off circles. Unfortunately for the home team, that shot hit the crossbar and was subsequently cleared by the defense.
               
In a very physical second period that saw over 20 penalty minutes served, Perez made up for his earlier failed opportunity by taking advantage of freshman Tom Price’s (Milton, Mass./Philips Exeter) obstruction hooking call. At the 1:24 mark, just 24 seconds into the power play, Caron and junior Spencer Williams (East Hampton, Conn./Northwood School) provided feeds for the senior co-captain who put the home team up 1-0. The Bantams had several chances to even the score, hitting the post once, and also skating short handed into a breakaway opportunity. Senior Bryan Crabtree (North Andover, Mass./Tabor Academy) found his way past the Purple Knights defense as time expired in the second period, but thanks to a magnificent save by Jackson, who fully extended his right pad to deny the attempt, the visitors entered the second intermission trailing by one.
               
In the final period, 2:11 in, Caron received a pass from freshman Chris Healy (Salem, N.H/New Hampshire Monarchs), and skated down the left boards into a developing 2-on-1 situation. Flanked on his right side by Watts, who was being closely guarded by a Trinity defender, Caron sent an in stride pass to the co-captain, as he passed by the center of the goal crease. Watts, who recently became the 11^th 100 point scorer in Saint Michael's program history, then sent a back handed wrist shot over a diving Breslin to provide some breathing room for the Purple Knights. Just over two minutes later, Watts opened the lead to 3-0, prompting Bantom head coach John Dunham to pull Breslin in favor of Barber. Taking a shot from the right face-off circle, Watts scored thanks to assists from sophomore Tim Dancey (Anaheim, Calif./Berkshire School) and junior Jared Silver (Montreal, Quebec/Tabor Academy). With the assist, Silver has now contributed at least one point in all but two of the team’s games this season, and he also extended his scoring streak to eight games, a span in which he has notched three goals and 15 assists. At the 7:18 mark, Ryan Masucci put the Bantams on the board, receiving help from older brother Richard Masucci (Winthrop, Mass./Boston Bulldogs), and also Chris Diozzi (Belmont, Mass./Walpole Stars). Late in the game, with under five minutes to play, Trinity closed the gap to a single goal, when Finch approached Jackson from his right, and provoked the goaltender to commit first, scoring his team leading ninth goal of the season. Skating the final 43 seconds with an extra attacker, Trinity had several quality chances to even the score, but thanks to Jackson, the Purple Knights pulled out the victory.  
               
Saint Michael's plays again on Saturday with a 3 p.m. home contest against Wesleyan University, while Trinity will travel to Northfield, Vt. to play Norwich University at 4 p.m.