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ZIMMERMANN HAT TRICK LEADS SMC PAST ASSUMPTION, 10-4

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                               FOR MORE INFORMATION
November 23, 2004                                                                             Contact: Seth Cole
                                                                                                         Phone: (802) 654-2537

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – Senior Chris Zimmermann’s (Montreal, Quebec/Tabor Academy) first career hat trick lifted Saint Michael’s College past Assumption College, 10-4, in Northeast-10 Conference men’s ice hockey action on Tuesday at Cairns Arena. With the win, Saint Michael’s is 3-0 for the first time since 1998-99, the season the Purple Knights won the NCAA Division II National Championship.

For the Purple Knights, junior Jonathan Perez (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Berkshire School) notched two goals and an assist, while senior Matt Anctil (Wolfeboro, N.H./Exeter SnowDevils) and sophomore Derek Girouard (Methuen, Mass./Central Catholic) added a goal and two helpers each. Sophomore Jared Silver (Montreal, Quebec/Tabor Academy) handed out three assists, and senior Andy Joy (Oak Park, Ill./Green Bay Gamblers) stopped 19 shots as Saint Michael’s won its NE-10 season-opener.

For the Greyhounds, junior Geno De Angelis (Winthrop, Mass.) scored two goals, while freshmen John Grzelcyk (Charlestown, Mass.) and Matt Paget (Hingham, Mass.) each scored once. Juniors Mike Sweeney (Plymouth, Mass.) and Sean O’Leary (Windham, Maine) combined for 39 saves for Assumption (3-2-1, 1-1-0 NE-10).

Saint Michael’s opened the scoring 2:30 into the contest, as Silver fed Perez from behind the net for his third goal of the season. The Greyhounds responded less than a minute later with a pair of De Angelis tallies 11 seconds apart, the first of which came on the power play.

Assumption maintained its 2-1 lead until midway through the opening stanza, when Silver found Girouard in front for a power-play goal. Five minutes later, the hosts took the lead for good, as sophomore Chris Thurston (Wallingford, Conn./Fairfield Prep) sent a cross-ice pass to junior Alex Watts (Cheshire, Conn./Berkshire School) for a backhander.

Zimmermann doubled the Purple Knights’ lead 2:11 into the second period, as he roofed a pass from Anctil just under the crossbar. Less than four minutes later, Zimmermann gave Saint Michael’s a 5-2 lead off of another cross-ice pass from Anctil, and Anctil lit the lamp for a power-play goal midway through the frame for a 6-2 advantage.

The Greyhounds appeared to grab the momentum late in the second period, as Grzelcyk cut the deficit to 6-3 with 1:21 left in the frame. However, with 1.9 seconds to go in the period, junior David Mullins’ (Montreal, Quebec/Governor Dummer Academy) shot from just inside the blue line restored the Purple Knights’ four-goal cushion.

Zimmermann completed his hat trick 2:07 into the third period, and goals from Perez and freshman Erik Caron (Kanata, Ontario/Smith Falls Bears) offset Paget’s first career tally to complete the scoring.

Saint Michael’s visits Amherst and Hamilton colleges Dec. 3-4 before returning home to host in-state rival and nationally-ranked Norwich University on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY
Assumption 2 1 1 --4
Saint Michael’s 3 4 3 --10

First period: Scoring: 1. SMC, Perez (Girouard, Silver), 2:30. 2. ASM, De Angelis (Snizek), 3:01 (pp). 3. ASM, De Angelis (Fanciullo, Bigelow), 3:12. 4. SMC, Girouard (Silver, Perez), 7:48 (pp). 5. SMC, Watts (Thurston, Caron), 12:35. Penalties: Harris, SMC (obstruction-hooking), 2:38; Grzelcyk, ASM (hooking), 6:36; Sweeney, ASM (tripping), 14:43 (served by Yerardi); Bigelow, ASM (tripping), 16:24.

Second period: Scoring: 6. SMC, Zimmermann (M. Anctil, N. Dancey), 2:11 (pp). 7. SMC, Zimmermann (M. Anctil, T. Dancey), 5:50. 8. SMC, M. Anctil (Thurston), 10:02 (pp). 9. ASM, Grzelcyk (Rust, Ciummo), 18:39. 10. SMC, Mullins (Zimmermann), 19:58 (pp). Penalties: Surette, ASM (holding), :23; Ciummo, ASM (obstruction-holding), 7:54; Surette, ASM (5-min. spearing major, game disqualification), 8:25; Zimmermann, SMC (elbowing), 15:25; De Angelis, ASM (cross-checking), 19:11.

Third period: Scoring: 11. SMC, Zimmermann (Rousseau), 2:07. 12. SMC, Perez (Girouard, Silver), 8:10 (pp). 13. ASM, Paget (unassisted), 14:36. 14. SMC, Caron (Watts), 16:06. Penalties: Ciardullo, SMC (hitting from behind), 2:31; Grzelcyk, ASM (holding), 6:35; Yerardi, ASM (boarding), 7:46; Murphy, ASM (holding), 9:04; Zimmermann, SMC (holding the stick), 9:04; Fanciullo, ASM (holding), 13:02; Silver, SMC (holding), 13:02; Hersom, ASM (5-min. charging major, game misconduct), 17:09; McDonough, ASM (hitting after whistle), 17:09; Ciardullo (hitting after whistle, game misconduct), 17:09.

Shots: ASM (8 – 5 – 10 - 23), SMC (15 – 14 – 20 - 49).

Saves: ASM, Sweeney (29 shots, 22 saves), O’Leary at start of third (20 shots, 17 saves); SMC, Joy (23 shots, 19 saves).

For complete box score, click here.

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Last Revised: October 25, 2002