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Saint Michael's Skates past Franklin Pierce, 5-2, for Third Straight Victory

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Created on Wednesday, 01 February 2012 04:23

Written by George Commo

SMC rallies from 2-0 down in home ice win

Courtesy St. Michael's Sports Information

SOUTH BURLINGTON - The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team erased an early two-goal lead and received goals from five different players as they skated past Franklin Pierce University, 5-2, in a  Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) contest on Tuesday at Cairns Arena. The Purple Knights, who won their last three contests, are now 6-10-2 overall and 2-1-1 in the NE-10, while the Ravens are 4-10-4 and 3-3-2.

Juniors Rich Rodeschini (Katonah, N.Y./Canterbury School) and Michael Jangro (Reading, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors) and sophomore Ryan Arsenault (Reading, Mass./New Hampton School) each tallied a goal and an assist, while juniors Alex Davidson (South Burlington, Vt./Saint Paul's School) and Dan Evarts (Hinesburg, Vt./Green Mountain Glades) also found the back of the net. Junior Connor Logan contributed two assists, while classmate Mike Dizgun (Kirkland, Quebec/OCN Blizzard) stopped 24 shots.

Senior Patrick Shortt (New Haven, Conn./New Hampton School) and freshman Brendan FitzPatrick (Winthrop, Mass./Bridgton Academy) each tallied a marker for the Ravens, while sophomore Dave O'Brien (Groton, Mass./Northern Cyclones) made 35 saves in the losing effort.

The Purple Knights were able to generate a couple chances during the first 20 minutes as they held a 12-8 shot advantage, but Franklin Pierce was able to get on the board first when Shortt tallied a short-handed marker at 7:27. FitzPatrick extended the Raven's lead to 2-0 when he put one home at the 16:57 mark.

St. Michael's cut the lead in half, midway through the second period when Rodeschini tallied an unassisted goal at 10:30. The Raven's made a charge to extend their lead, but Dizgun was able to keep it a one goal deficit when he thwarted a breakaway attempt with his left pad with just under eight minutes to play in the period. The Purple Knights continued to knock on the door step throughout the period and knotted the game at two with just under three minutes left. Mark Higgins (Plainville, Mass./Bridgewater Bandits) fired a slap shot from the point and Davidson redirected it to the left low corner, as he was standing in the slot.

The Purple Knights took the lead for good, when Arsenault received a pass from Rodeschini in front of the net and stick handled around O'Brien, lifting the puck into the open net with his backhand at 3:24 into the final stanza. Once again the Raven's came charging back, but Dizgun was able to preserve the one-goal lead with a left pad-save on a one-time opportunity in the slot. Saint Michael's added to more markers, less than two minutes apart, before the end of the period, with the first coming on the two-man advantage.

The Purple Knights return to action Friday when they travel to New England College for an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East match-up at 7 p.m.