Manchester, N.H. (April 15) -- Junior
Chris Murphy (Winchester, Mass.) scored seven
goals, including the game winner just 18 seconds into overtime, to
lift Saint Anselm to a thrilling 15-14 overtime win over crosstown
rival Southern New Hampshire on Tuesday night at Larkin Field. In
the win, Murphy became the 11th player in Saint Anselm history to
surpass the 100 career point plateau.
Saint Anselm got on the board with 12:33 left in the first
quarter on an even-strength goal from Matt Surette
(Wakefield, Mass.). SNHU came roaring back though with
three straight, including a man-up goal by John
Delanoy, to take a 3-1 edge. The Hawks briefly tied the
game at 3-3 before Mike Ball found the net with
six seconds left in the first quarter for a 4-3 SNHU advantage
through one period. The Penmen pushed the lead to as high as 7-3 in
the second period before the Hawks closed to within 8-6 at the
halftime break.
In the third quarter, the Penmen continued to pour it on and
after three periods, the lead stood at 13-9 in favor of the host
Penmen. Saint Anselm had other ideas though as Murphy got things
started with 12:42 left in the final quarter with an even-strength
score to cut the lead to 13-10. After Kevin DeBenedetto
(Reading, Mass.) pulled the visitors to within two at
13-11, Saint Anselm's Steve Trocki (Braintree,
Mass.) rattled off three straight goals over a span of
5:46 to give the Hawks their first lead since the opening minutes
at 14-13 with 2:56 remaining in regulation. The Penmen picked up
the equalizer with 1:02 left in the quarter as Keith
Merluzzo scored his fifth goal of the game to make it a
14-14 game. Saint Anselm outshot the Penmen by a 16-7 margin in the
final quarter.
In overtime, the Hawks won the faceoff and set up the
game-winning play by Murphy to defeat the Penmen and snap a
two-game losing streak.
Dan Flynn (Wakefield, Mass.) made 15 saves in
the victory for the Hawks, while Erin Gunst made
13 saves in the defeat.
With the win, the Hawks improve to 6-5 overall and 4-2 in
Northeast-10 play, while SNHU drops to 5-4 overall and 4-3 in the
league. Saint Anselm is back in action on Saturday afternoon as the
team travels to Bryant for a 3:00 start in Smithfield, R.I.
