MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm men's ice hockey team hosted the University of Southern Maine Huskies this evening in their first ECAC East conference game of 2010.  Coleman Noonan (Norfolk, Mass.) and Jim Toomey (Billerica, Mass.) both scored two goals, and Ryan Holley (Owings, Md.) notched a goal and two assists, as the Hawks skated to an 8-4 victory over the Huskies. The win lifts the Hawks to 5-4 (3-3 ECAC East), and the Huskies fall to 4-6-1 (2-3-1 ECAC East).

Sophomore Jim Toomey put the Hawks on the board early, netting a goal from John Hyslip (Andover, Mass.) just 1:48 after the opening whistle.  Less than a minute later, sophomore Michael DeVita (Annandale, N.J.) knocked in his first career goal, assisted by team captain Nick Wheeler (Nashua, N.H.).  The Huskies struck back at 6:20, as Dan Rautenberg (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) scored his fourth goal of the season in a 5-on-3 power-play situation.  Ten minutes later, Toomey responded with an unassisted goal for a 3-1 Hawk lead at the end of the first.

At 5:49 in the second period, Rautenberg once again cut the Hawks' lead in half, scoring a second power-play goal from the right side.  At 12:34, Timothy King (Weymouth, Mass.) laced a hard shot past Husky starting goaltender Mason St. Hilaire (Saco, Maine).  Team captain Coleman Noonan, the Hawks' leading scorer, then scored two more unanswered goals, to extend the Hawks' lead to 6-2.  Before the close of the second period, Paul Conter (Woodbridge, Ont.) netted a 4-on-4 goal to keep the Huskies alive.

In the third period, Paul Snell (Groton, Mass.) and Ryan Holley capped off the Hawks' scoring, netting 4-on-4 and 5-on-3 goals, respectively.  Freshman Dustin Rider (Farmington, Conn.) then scored his first career goal for the Huskies, for a final score of 8-4, Hawks.

There were a total of 22 penalties called in the game, nine on the Huskies and 13 on the Hawks, for 44 minutes in the box.  The Hawks' have not played in a game with this many penalties called since January 4, 2009, when there were 25 total penalties called against Saint Anselm and Middlebury in the consolation game of the Middlebury Holiday Classic.  The Hawks received 13 penalties in that game as well, which is the last time they committed as many penalties as a team. 

Husky starter Mason St. Hilaire made 18 saves in 49:47 minutes in the net, allowing all eight goals and taking the loss.  Tim Gerrish (Albany, N.Y.) came in for the final 10:13 minutes, and made eight saves in relief.  Kevin Fairweather (Woburn, Mass.) made 26 saves in 53:44, allowing all four goals and earning his fourth victory.  Freshman Corey Cotnoir (Bow, N.H.) closed out the game for Hawks, and made just one save, stopping an unguarded breakaway drive, in the final 6:16 minutes. 

The Hawks return to action tomorrow evening, when they host the University of New England Nor'easters in Sullivan Arena for their first matchup in history.  The ECAC East Conference game will begin at 4:00 pm.