Emma MacDonald | Sports Editor | emacdonald@mail.smcvt.edu
On Saturday, March 1, the St. Michael’s Men’s Hockey team defeated St. Anselm 5-1 in the NE-10 championship at Sullivan Arena in Manchester, N. H. This was the fifth time this season the Purple Knights played St. Anselm after losing to them four times before.
The last time the men’s ice hockey team won the championship was 15 years ago, in 2009. Damian DiGiulian has been the head coach for the past 13 seasons, and this was his first NE-10 win. DiGiulian also received the Coach of the Year award for the division for the 2024-2025 season. “I think going into this game we were confident and we were prepared well,” DiGiulian said. “Our guys were loose, excited and confident knowing that they were prepared and the more prepared you are the more confident you are.”
The Purple Knights took the lead after almost twenty minutes of scoreless play when Quinn McCarthy, ’26, scored the first goal in the first period. Brennan McFarland ‘25 also scored his 100th career point by assisting McCarthy’s goal. After that David Ciancio, ’25, put two goals up on the board, setting a 3-0 score during the second period. During that same period, St. Anselm responded with a goal. Just seventeen seconds later, Nick Wracker, ’26, netted a crucial goal for the team delivering the most important strike of the game according to Coach DiGiulian. In the final period, Patrick Last, ’28, scored the fifth and final goal ending the championship game with a score of 5-1.
DiGiulian described how important Wracker’s goal was for winning the game. “They had just come back 3-1 and it kind of had a little momentum on us, and so Nick’s goal seventeen seconds later was the biggest goal of the game to make it 4-1.”
Assistant Coach Lilly Holmes finished coaching her third season with the team. “I knew we were playing well and I felt confident and I was never nervous in that game, but I didn’t really unclench my fists until that fifth goal,” Holmes said.
The three captains this season Jack Macdonald, ‘25, Case Kantgias, ‘25 and David Ciancio, ‘25 all played major roles this year leading the team to success.
“This is a special group of guys, sometimes the pressure you put on yourself to succeed starts to make hockey feel like more work and less fun, but the brotherhood this team formed was so fun and meaningful to be a part of it which made it so exciting to come to the rink everyday” Macdonald said.
Ciancio said that while it sounds weird, given the team’s past losses against St. Anselm, the team felt confident going into this game. “We had been playing our best hockey over the last few weeks and felt that if we played our game we could beat anybody,” Ciancio said. “We also really embraced the ‘nothing to lose’ approach and tried to stay loose and enjoy the moment.” Ciancio earned the most valuable player award after scoring twice and making one assist during the championship game.
Evan Plunkett, ’28, had 27 saves during the championship game. This standout first season from Plunkett, earned him the spot of being second in the NE-10 conference with the most shutouts as well as receiving Rookie of the Week five times this season. Plunkett broke a ten year old record for shutouts held by Dave Donzanti ’15, while also tying the school record for career shutouts matching Donzanti and Tim Decker ‘20.
“Personal accolades are cool but they aren’t assured to last forever,” Plunkett said. “Winning a championship with this team this year was far more of an accomplishment than any record out there and that is something no one can take away from us.”
After the victory on March 1, the men’s ice hockey team earned their sixth NE-10 title. After losing to St Anselm four previous times this year, the team turned it on for the championship and brought home a win.
“Not only was it my first championship, it was the school’s first one since 2009,” said Case Kantgias. “It was the 25th anniversary of the 1999 National Championship. It was our revenge tour from 2023 in the same game, by the same score. There’s nothing like beating your rival, but beating your rival in the championship game, at their barn, in front of their community, wearing that purple jersey, honestly there’s nothing like it.”