SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – Greg Merrill (Brighton, Mich.) netted a power-play goal with 1:45 remaining in the second period to cut the Hawks' deficit in half, but the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team was edged by Saint Michael's College, 2-1, Friday evening at Cairns Arena.

The Hawks, who came in at 9-3-1 over their last 13 contests, drop to 11-6-2 on the season, including 7-6-1 in ECAC East play. The Purple Knights extend their winning streak to three games and improve to 7-12-0, 4-9-0 ECAC East.

Saint Michael's jumped on the board just 4:47 into the opening period when Kevin Altidor's backhander of an A.J. Pieprzak pass from behind the net beat Saint Anselm goaltender Nick Dries (Commerce Township, Mich.) to make it 1-0.

Pieprzak then potted one of his own with 3:08 left in the period as he skated hard to the net and batted home a pass from William Côté, who was being pulled down by a Saint Anselm defender. Josh Geary was also credited with an assist on the play.

The Hawks nearly found the back of the net 90 seconds into the middle period when senior Tucker Mullin (Andover, Mass.) picked off a pass near the blue line and broke into the zone all alone, but Saint Michael's goalie Mike Dizgun came up with a big stop.

Dries and the Hawks dodged a bullet on the penalty kill with six minutes left in the period when Geary's shot rung off the post.

Saint Anselm then took advantage of a 5-on-3 opportunity at the 18:15 mark when Merrill received a feed from Evan Gogonis (Northboro, Mass.) and sent a blast from the blue line into the back of the cage to slice it to 2-1.

Mullin almost knotted the game at two late in the third period, but Dizgun stopped him once again from directly in front. The Purple Knights then looked to grab a two-goal lead, but Dries denied Pieprzak off a face-off at the 16:15 mark before Geary chimed the post once more 30 seconds later.

Dizgun then turned away a flurry of Saint Anselm shots in the final 2:30, including three from Mike Richard (Derry, N.H.), who, on his final attempt, collected the puck off a blocked shot at the left side of the net and fired it at Dizgun with nine seconds to go.

Dries made 20 saves, while Dizgun stopped 37 shots, including 17 in the middle stanza. Saint Anselm held a 38-22 advantage in shots, including 18-9 in the second.

The Hawks return to action Saturday, Feb. 2 at 4 p.m. when they take on top-ranked Norwich University. The next home game for the Hawks is Friday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. when they play host to the University of Southern Maine at Sullivan Arena. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and following us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).