Senior James Florentino dished out his 13th assist of the season in the Skyhawks 5-2 loss to St. Michael's

Skyhawks Drop 5-2 Decision To Purple Knights

Boxscore

Foxboro, Mass - Stonehill gave up three answered goals after tying it midway through the second, as they fell to St. Michael's 5-2 at the Foxboro Sports Center on Tuesday evening. 

Both teams came out aggressive, hitting each other and firing shots on goal.  The Skyhawks had the first real chance of the game, getting a five on three just over six minutes in, but were unable to put a shot past Tyler Bilton. 

At the 9:29 mark it was the Purple Knights who drew first blood. Senior Ryan Mero hit a streaking Chris Healey right in front of the net for a one-timer and a 1-0 lead that would hold for the remainder of the period. 

Just 1:05 into the second, St. Michael's added to their lead when Mero got behind the defense on a line change and scored on Mike Manna (Framingham, Mass.) for his 11^th goal on the season and a two goal lead. 

The Skyhawks finally got on their chance seven minutes into the period when Pete Roundy (Simsbury, Conn.) was awarded a penalty shot after getting taking out on a breakaway attempt. Roundy faked out the goalie on the ensuing shot and went top shelf to cut the Purple Knight lead in half. 

Stonehill tied the game just minutes later, as senior Paul Reissfelder (Plymouth, Mass.) scored off assists by Frank Amato (West Springfield, Mass.) and James Florentino (West Roxbury, Mass.), for his team leading tenth goal on the season, knotting the game at two. 

The Purple Knights responded at the 11:42 mark as Mero scored his second of the evening, slipping it right under Manna's pads for the 3-2 lead. 

St. Michael's added to their 3-2 advantage a minute and a half later when Nicholas Sheehan pumped home the puck on a scrum in front of the net.  Neither team would break through the rest of the period. 

In the third, the Skyhawks were repeatedly denied any good looks at the goal and Bilton denied anything that go through.  Manna also stopped 13 shots in the period, but Stonehill was forced to pull their goalie in the final 20 seconds and Matt Rigtrup scored on the empty net for the 5-2 final. 

Mero finished the game with two goals and an assist for St. Michael's while Bilton made 36 saves in net.  Manna stopped 40 shots but took the loss as the Skyhawks dropped to 8-11-1 on the season. 

Stonehill plays their final regular season contest when they travel to take on St. Anselm to take on the Hawks at 7:00 p.m.