Manchester, N.H. (September 8, 2001)-The Saint Anselm football team pulled out a 31-30 victory over UMass Lowell in front of 2,571 raucous fans in the Hawks' Northeast-10 Conference home opener played at Grappone Stadium on Saturday.
Trailing 30-24, Saint Anselm faced a fourth down and 10 yards to go with the ball on the UML 15 yard line. Senior quarterback Keith Comeau (Marlborough, Mass./ Marlborough) threaded a pass to Travis Pelletier (Deerfield,N.H./ Central), who dove into the end zone to tie the game with just 22 seconds remaining. Erol Senel (Euclid, Ohio/ Benedictine) kicked the extra point to put the Hawks up for good. A final desperation pass was intercepted to end the game.
Saint Anselm improves its record to 1-1 overall, 1-1 in NE-10 play while UMass Lowell falls to 0-2 overall, 0-2 in the NE-10. The final touchdown put an end to an exciting game as both teams combined for nearly 800 yards of total offense, 10 fumbles (five for each team) and nine turnovers. The game featured seven lead changes and two ties with the biggest lead being seven points.
Saint Anselm showed a balanced attack with 221 yards on the ground and 209 through the air. Sophomore tailback Kevin Ridgley (Amesbury, Mass./ Amesbury) led the ground assault, gaining 161 yards on 17 carries (9.4 yards per carry).
Returning all-conference linebacker Geoff Raby (Attleboro, Mass.) was all over the field for Saint Anselm, totaling 12.5 tackles (six solo, 13 assisted) while Will St. Jean (Londonderry, N.H./ Trinity) had two sacks.
It was Senel, Saint Anselm's place kicker, who started the rowdy affair. Kicking off to start the game, Senel forced a fumble by stripping the ball from UML's Tomasz Pagos (Chicopee, Mass./ Chicopee) on the opening play. The Hawks could not capitalize on the good field position, however as Senel missed a 33 yard field goal attempt. It was the only attempt he would miss all day.
With Saint Anselm leading 14-7 late in the second quarter, UML's Geoff Gardner (Stratford, Conn./ Bridgton Acad.) capped a seven play, 69-yard drive with a 44-yard TD pass to Glenn Opie (North Port, Fla./ Venice) to tie the game going into halftime.
Gardner led the River Hawks in both passing and rushing offense. He threw for 240 yards and two TDs on 23-for-31 throwing, and rushed for 45 yards on 19 carries with two TDs.
Saint Anselm had the game's longest drive with a 17 play, 75-yard drive capped by a one- yard touchdown plunge by Ridgley to give the Hawks a short-lived 21-17 lead.
Gardner brought UML right back with a five-yard touchdown pass to Larry Gardner (North Port, Fla./ Venice) to give UML a 23-21 advantage with 10:27 remaining in the game. The point after try was no good, however and would prove costly later in the game.
After forcing a UML punt with just over seven minutes left Saint Anselm drove down the field, aided by a 62-yard scamper from Ridgley, to put the Hawks in scoring position. When the drive stalled, Senel was called on to make one of the biggest kicks of his career and he did not disappoint, drilling a 37-yarder with 5:14 left on the clock to give his Hawks a 24-23 lead.
On the ensuing UML drive, Gardner again drove his River Hawks down the field, capping a 59-yard drive with a one yard QB keeper to put the visitors up, 30-24 with just 1:16 left on the clock.
With one more chance in the game, Comeau completed four passes as the Hawks drove to the UML 15 yard line. Three straight incomplete passes put the Hawks in a fourth down and 10 situation where Comeau brought the home faithful to their feet with a perfectly-thrown pass to Pelletier just past the outstretched hands of two UML defenders.
Saint Anselm returns to action next Saturday when the Hawks host the two-time reigning EFC champion AIC Yellow Jackets (1-0) in a 1:00 PM kickoff at Grappone Stadium.
