(Courtesy of St. Michael's Sports Information)
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – Freshman forward Anthony Principato (Holmdel, N.J.) scored a pair of goals and assisted on two others as the Wentworth Institute of Technology hockey team closed out play at the 2010 St. Michael's Holiday Classic with a 6-3 win over St. Michael's.
The 13th-ranked Leopards, who suffered their first loss of the season Saturday night, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in a span of 5:23 as freshman forward Mike Marrocco (Braintree, Mass.) got things going at 7:06. Principato scored the next two goals, coming at 8:49 and 12:29, respectively. Wentworth got a power play goal from junior forward Geric Brodt (Anchorage, Alaska) 1:10 into the middle stanza to extend the lead to 4-0 before senior defenseman Martin Winzer (Nuremberg, Germany) scored with 1:35 left in the period to give the Leopards a 5-0 lead after two periods.
Sophomore forward Skylur Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.) put Wentworth on top by a 6-0 score at the 9:35 mark of the final stanza, however, St. Michael's came back to cut the lead to 6-3 with three goals in a span of 6:11. Senior forward Alex Higgins scored at 12:45 to get the Purple Knights on the board and added a power play goal at 15:56, which trimmed the lead to 6-2. Senior defenseman Paul Nannicelli (Walpole, Mass.) closed out the scoring with a power-play marker at 18:56. Junior forward Glenn Belmore (Cornwall, Ont.) assisted on all three goals.
In addition to Principato's four points, Jameson netted a goal and an assist while senior forward Michael O'Brien (Royersford, Pa.) had a pair of assists.
Senior netminder Justin Marriott (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) made 27 saves to pick up the win. Junior Brendan Rimmer (Newbury, Mass.) made 28 saves for St. Michael's. Wentworth held a 34-30 shot advantage.
The win improves the Leopards' record to 8-1-1 and Wentworth travels to Plymouth State for two games on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 9-10. The Purple Knights dropped their second in a row to stand at 2-7-0 and are at Colby on Friday, Jan. 8.
