Seniors Bill Ninteau, James Florentino, Brendan O'Brien and junior Pete Roundy accept the runner up trophy

Skyhawks Title Bid Comes Up Short

Boxscore

Colchester, Vt. - Championship game MVP Tyler Bilton turned away 38 shots and host Saint Michael's scored three straight goals in the middle of the contest to claim their second straight Northeast-10 Conference Hockey Championship with a 3-2 win over upstart Stonehill Saturday night at Cairns Arena.

The Skyhawks end their season at 10-13-1, while the Purple Knights end their championship campaign at 11-15-2.

Sixth-seeded Stonehill, who advanced to the title game with road wins over Franklin Pierce and Saint Anselm, actually got on the board first less than eight minutes into the contest when freshman sensation Andrew Diozzi (Belmont, Mass.) found the back of the net off a feed from Pete Roundy (Simsbury, Conn.).

The Skyhawks maintained their 1-0 advantage for the remainder of the opening period and a majority of the second until a one minute and twenty second stretch at the end of the middle stanza turned the momentum in Saint Michael's favor.

Bilton and Ryan Mero teamed up to set up Brady Earle to even the game at the 16:39 mark of the second.

Mero then gave the Purple Knights the lead with a goal of his own - this one a shorthanded tally - in the waning moments of the period.

The teams, which were a combined 1-for-12 on the power play, each recorded a goal in the final period. St. Michael's came first when Mero and Matt Rigtup assisted on David Vorozilchak's fourth goal of the season, making the Purple Knights lead 3-1.

Stonehill answered back, cutting the lead in half when Pat Greene (Weymouth, Mass.) beat Bilton with help from Diozzi and John Sommers (Manchester, Conn.).

Mike Manna (Framingham, Mass.) took the loss in goal for the Skyhawks after turning aside 23 shots.

Both Roundy and James Florentino (West Roxbury, Mass.) were named to the All-Tournament team for Stonehill.