Men’s Hockey Falls to St. Mikes, 5-2

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Men's Ice Hockey team looked to close out a two-game series with the St. Michael's College Purple Knights in non-conference action at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink. For the second night in a row, the Trailblazers were the first team on the board, but saw the visitors rally back. Cade Herrera and Sean Schifferl scored for the home team, while four different SMC players lit the lamp, including two by AJ Sacco.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, November 1, 2025
• Score: SMC 5, MCLA 2
• Records: St. Michael's College Purple Knights 1-0-1 (NE10 0-0-0) | MCLA Trailblazers 0-1-1 (MASCAC 0-0-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• MCLA scored first a bit over five minutes into the game. Junior defenseman Shane Green (Bear, DE / Philadelphia Little Flyers) started the play dumping the puck in to the right side corner, where junior forward Cade Herrera (Brentwood, CA / Seahawks H.C) (5:14 of 1^st period, assisted by Green) collected it and battled through a defender behind the net and then fired off a short side shot past the goalie's stick side blocker. The goal was the second of the season for Herrera and the assist the first of the season for Green.
• It wouldn't take long for the Purple Knights to respond, and did so in spades, scoring three times in the next 10 minutes. The first was scored by Hans Forselius (7:11 of 1^st, Ben Nichols & Cole Douglas), followed by a power play goal from Ty Bloom (PP 16:19 1^st, SJ LeComte & Evan Dresser) and an unassisted goal by AJ Sacco (16:58 1^st, unassisted).
• After the teams combined for 30 (20 for SMC, 10 for MCLA) shots in the first period, a scoreless second period still kept the goalies busy as the teams tacked on another 20 shots (13 for SMC, 7 for MCLA).
• The Trailblazers pulled back within a goal early in the third period when junior forward Sean Schifferl    (Fort Myers, FL / N.H. Monarchs) (3:14 3^rd, Moore) banged home the rebound of his own shot with another goal over the netminder's stick side shoulder. Junior forward Easton Moore (Red Deer, AB / Florida Eels) picked up an assist after battling behind the net to feed Schifferl in front of the net. It was the first goal of the season for Schifferl and the first assist for Moore.
• The momentum swung back in the direction of SMC, who recorded their second power play goal of the evening just over four minutes later. Quinn McCarthy (PP 7:26 3^rd, Douglas & Forselius) restored the Purple Knight lead to two goals before Sacco (EN 18:45 3^rd, unassisted) added on an empty net goal to cement the final score.
• SMC's Evan Plunkett stopped 26 of 28 shots to improve his record to 1-0-0. For MCLA, sophomore goalie Matthew Ryynanen (Houghton, MI / Bozeman Icedogs) allowed three goals on 18 shots, falling to 0-1-0. Freshman goalie Roco Stoltz (Denver, CO / Charlotte Rush) stopped 26 of 27 shots faced in a relief role that didn't figure in the final decision.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: SMC 46, MCLA 28
• Saves: SMC 26, MCLA 41
• Faceoffs Won: SMC 25, MCLA 41
• Penalty/Minutes: SMC 3/6:00, MCLA 5/10:00
• Power Plays: SMC 2 for 4, MCLA 0 for 5

UP NEXT:

On Friday, MCLA will be back in action when it travels to the Hiram College for a non-conference matchup with the Terriers at the Pond - Ice Rink & Sports Complex. The puck will drop at 9:40 p.m.

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