D-II Cinderella Saint Michael's Just Focused on Keeping Momentum

There is no crucible in the all of Division II lacrosse quite like the Northeast-10. The conference is home to the two-time defending champion Adelphi Panthers. Teams like Bentley, Pace and Saint Anselm — perennial residents in the top 10 of national polls — also call the NE10 home.

Saint Michael’s, a small college just outside Burlington, Vermont,  came into 2026 with questions to answer. Sebastian Simonson and Christian Reyes, the team’s top two scorers in 2025, graduated. So did starting netminder Sean Regan. But head coach Alex Smith knew the incoming class had some special talents.

“I don’t know if any of us knew what to expect this year,” Smith said. “We were coming off graduating a really amazing class, including the best player in program history and 130-something points off the attack. But we knew we had some really good young players coming in, and from the start, everyone has just been bought in.”

The new faces have hit the ground running, but there’s a balance of youth and experience. The Purple Knights’ current leading scorer is Chris Davis, a freshman. Their next two leading scorers are Sean Murphy and Owen Balfour, both seniors. Their fourth leading scorer is Zeke Peraza, another freshman. Braeden Murphy, another freshman, has passed the 20-point mark on the year. Sophomore Nate Gulachenski took over the starting role in net and has been exceptional in big games.

“It’s been really cool,” Smith said. “With Sean Murphy, this is his third full year really starting for us at attack. He was a known quantity. Whereas Balfour has kind of been this career fourth attackman for us. He even started the year that way, but he just keeps playing better and better, especially now, they’re playing the best lacrosse of their careers, and that’s what you need out of your seniors this time of year.”

The freshman are gaining valuable experience with the tournament run, too.

“Our freshman are just dumb enough not to know any better or be scared of anybody,” joked Smith. “It’s a special thing about St. Mike’s. In general, we don’t have a division between the classes. Everyone lives on campus; they really get to be a part of the community with each other. It’s a special place and a special team in that way.”

Fall ball competition also built some confidence and revealed that the Knights would be able to hang with teams. A scrimmage with Skidmore saw them not play their best, but it showed enough flashes for the team to build confidence in its ability. A scrimmage at McGill saw the Knights dominate — and that was more evidence that this team might be capable of something special.

In the regular season, that familiar gauntlet of the NE10 schedule hit. There is no respite there.

“There are no off games in the NE10,” Smith said. “Even teams that you might say are having down years, they’re great teams and great programs.”

The Knights notched a big win early, taking down a ranked opponent in Southern New Hampshire. But they weren’t able to carry that momentum. They dropped their next three conference games, losing to Pace, Saint Anselm, and Assumption, the former two both being top six teams in the country at the time.

But the three losses came by a combined four goals. And Smith knew that even though they were right there with the heavyweights, they maybe still hadn’t played their best game.

“The Pace game in particular, and I know [Pace head coach Tom Mariano] would say they didn’t play that well that day either, but we felt like we did not play well and still had a shot to win that game,” Smith said. “Sometimes you tip your cap and say the better team won today. We as coaches were looking at each other saying, ‘Should we have won that game?’”

The Knights committed 31 turnovers, and Gulachenski made 19 saves, yet the Knights lost 6-5. The losses sting, but there lessons and value in the results.

The Knights closed the regular season with a win over Bentley on senior day, a hallmark win against a top caliber opponent.

“Beating Bentley is one of the biggest wins in program history,” Smith said. “Bentley is such a stalwart. They’re an awesome team and an awesome program, and that’s a major win for us.”

But in the NE10 tournament, they lost in overtime in a rematch with Assumption. The Knights trailed at halftime and battled back to tie the score in the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t quite close things out.

Without an automatic qualifier from a conference win, they’d have to wait and see if their quality wins and high-level schedule would be enough to get them a spot in the NCAA tournament.

“We were fortunate to have our name called,” Smith said. “Between having our name called last Sunday, all the way through this weekend, we’ve had finals, we missed graduation yesterday, it’s all been swirling, and we haven’t maybe had time to sit down and think too deeply about where we’re at.”

The Knights got the call and a monster of a matchup against Saint Anselm, a top three team in the country and a No. 2 seed in the bracket. The north bracket, on the whole, featured five NE-10 teams including the Knights, a testament to the level of play.

The Knights lost to Saint Anselm by just two goals in the regular season, and they knew that at their best, they could compete. They were shot out of a cannon to start the game, scoring four first-quarter goals and forcing Saint Anselm to chase them.

“They’re going through a lot right now, between injuries and the Division III news over the last couple weeks, but we have a tremendous amount of respect for them,” Smith said. “It’s one of the more healthy rivalries I’ve been a part of as a coach or a player. But we went down there with a ton of confidence. I told our guys, ‘I’m putting together a game plan to win this thing.’ It’s not about saying, ‘Let’s get a moral victory.’ The guys believed in it, we got a lead early, and were able to hold on all the way through.”

Gulachenski protected the lead, making 15 saves, and the Knights only committed one penalty, a drop from the four they committed against Saint Anselm in the regular season. The Knights got nine goals spread across seven players — a full team effort to grab the win.

“Nate has been great. He’s been doing what you want your goalie to do, which is make the saves he’s supposed to and then steal a few that he probably shouldn’t,” Smith said. “He’s been a steadying presence for us. What’s grown the most has been his clearing and communication. It’s not always easy for sophomores to command the defense. He’s not running the show by himself down there, but he’s doing enough on the communication side and he’s clearing the ball at a high level, and that’s what you need this time of year.”

Saint Michael’s plays to keep its season going this week. Fresh off their biggest win of the year, the Knights face Molloy in the NCAA quarterfinals on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Eastern.

“We haven’t really been thinking about expectations, where we’re going, as much as we’re thinking about the day that’s in front of us,” Smith said. “That’s been a strong way for us to attack this season. … We feel like we’re playing our best lacrosse right now, and that’s all you can ask for. We want to keep that momentum and just keep playing together for as long as we possibly can.”