Big wins for men’s hockey and women’s basketball, a new 1,000-point scorer, and a landmark win for women’s basketball head coach Jen Niebling put the Purple Knights in great position for a strong second half to the winter season – just in time for the returning students to witness all the upcoming action.
Women’s basketball earned two wins this week, boosting their record to over .500 for the first time since Dec. 4. Junior Logan Pintka (Schenectady, N.Y./Colonie Central) and sophomore Nicole Adach (Schenectady, N.Y./Mohonasen) propelled Saint Michael’s to its first three-game Northeast-10 Conference win streak since Dec. 3-13, 2008. Pintka became the 17th 1,000-point scorer in program history, averaging 17 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 88 percent from the foul line during the week. Adach tallied back-to-back double-doubles, improving to a team-leading five on the season and averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds over two games. Niebling coached her 200th game as the Saint Michael’s head coach on Tuesday, a 63-56 win over Southern Connecticut, and is now 90-111 at the helm of the Purple Knights. Saint Michael’s returns to action on Wednesday at New Haven at 7:30 p.m.
Men’s basketball locked down Southern Connecticut with a 62-43 home win on Tuesday before dropping a 75-57 decision at Pace on Saturday. Tuesday’s win over the Owls marked the fewest points allowed for the Purple Knights since a 78-40 win over Norwich on Nov. 15, 2008. Freshman Michael Holton, Jr. (Portland, Ore./Sunset/The Winchendon School) kept his scoring streak alive, averaging 15.5 points per game over the week to improve to 14 consecutive games with ten or more points to begin his college career. Saint Michael’s is 4-2 at home, but has yet to secure a road victory with a 0-6 mark away from the Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights will look to pick up their first road win when they head to New Haven on Tuesday.
Men’s hockey secured the top spot in the NE-10 and moved into the top half of the Eastern College Athletic Conference East with a 1-0-1 week, which began with a 4-2 win at Saint Anselm on Saturday that gave the Purple Knights their first win over the defending NE-10 champions since beating the Hawks in the NE-10 championship in 2008. Junior Reave MacKinnon (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Winnipeg Saints) netted the game winner against the Hawks, had three assists over two games, and is tied for first and third in goals scored in the NE-10 and ECAC East, respectively. Junior Brady Earle (Columbia, Md./The Gunnery School) tallied the game-tying goal in a 2-2 stalemate at New England College on Saturday, and sophomore goalie Mike Dizgun (Kirkland, Quebec/OCN Blizzard) stopped 53-of-57 shots in two stints between the pipes. The Purple Knights complete their four-game road trip with ECAC East contests at Trinity and Wesleyan on Friday and Saturday.
Women’s hockey suffered road setbacks to Salve Regina and Holy Cross over the weekend. Junior Madelena Santore (Millington, N.J./New Jersey Rockets/Rutgers Univ.) scored a goal in a 6-2 loss at Salve Regina on Friday, upping her team-leading total to 10 and giving her over a third of the Purple Knights’ goals this season. The junior forward is fifth in the ECAC East in goals scored, and is just the sixth player in Saint Michael’s program history to net 10 goals in a season. Sophomore Allison Graf (Long Lake, Minn./Minnesota Thoroughbreds) netted her fourth goal of the season and the lone goal for Saint Michael’s in Saturday’s 7-1 defeat. The Purple Knights will look to pick up their first home win of the season when they host nationally-ranked Norwich on Friday in the first game of a home-away weekend series against the Cadets.
The ski team finished 10th on Saturday in the season-opening Saint Lawrence University Carnival. Freshman Tim Spangler (Summit, N.J./Univ. of Colorado) paced the Purple Knights with a 17th-place finish in the men’s slalom in his first collegiate carnival, and sophomore Gabbi Hall (Incline Village, Nev./Forest Charter School) raced to the women’s best alpine effort with a 22nd-place finish in the giant slalom. On the Nordic side, freshman Gabrielle Naranja (Fort Kent, Maine/Fort Kent Community) was 54th in the women’s 10-kilometer free technique on Saturday, and Robert Sitzer (Lennox, Mass./Lennox Memorial) placed 50th in the men’s 15-kilometer free technique. The Purple Knights hit the slopes again on Friday and Saturday at the Colby Carnival, which will be held at Sugarloaf and Titcomb Mountain.
Swimming and diving took losses in home meets to Bentley and Saint Rose this week. Junior Eileen Mullowney (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) had strong performances on the women’s side, winning five individual races over two meets: the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyles against the Falcons on Thursday, and the 100- and 200-yard freestyles against the Golden Knights on Saturday. Junior Dan Healy (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington) picked up four wins for the men: the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes on Thursday, and the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke on Saturday. Junior Kaytlyn Kelley (Jefferson, Mass./Wachusett Regional), sophomore Andrea Munar (Westwood, Mass./Westwood), senior Catie Watt (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) and freshman Julie Mullowney (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) helped earn the Purple Knights’ lone relay win of the week in the 200-yard freestyle relay on Saturday. Saint Michael’s takes on Le Moyne on Wednesday in its lone meet of the week.
This Week’s Schedule:
Jan. 19 Swimming and Diving vs. Le Moyne*, 3:30 p.m.
Men’s basketball at New Haven*, 5:30 p.m.
Women’s basketball at New Haven*, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 21 Skiing at Colby Carnival, 9 a.m.
Men’s hockey at Trinity^, 7 p.m.
Women’s hockey vs. Norwich^, 7 p.m.
Jan. 22 Skiing at Colby Carnival, 9 a.m.
Women’s basketball vs. Assumption*, 1:30 p.m.
Men’s hockey at Wesleyan^, 3 p.m.
Men’s basketball vs. Assumption*, 3:30 p.m.
Women’s hockey at Norwich^, 7 p.m.
*Northeast-10 Conference Game
^Eastern College Athletic Conference East Game
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