MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Saint Anselm men's hockey team hosted the Salem State College Vikings this evening in a nonconference matchup for the final men's regular-season game at Sullivan Area.  After falling behind 1-0, the Vikings went on a five-goal run through the second period, and though the Hawks cut the lead to two in the third, the Vikings came out on top with a 6-3 victory.  The win lifts the Vikings to 11-8-3 (9-3-3 MASCAC), while the Hawks fall to 12-9-1 (9-7-1 ECAC East).

After a slow start to the game, a Salem State penalty at 15:58 in the first period gave the Hawks a one-man advantage.  Fifty seconds into the power play, Coleman Noonan (Norfolk, Mass.) passed the puck to Paul Snell (Groton, Mass.) who sent a shot towards the net.  Goaltender Andrew Knight saved the shot, but Ryan Holley (Owings, Md.) nabbed the rebound, and slapped a hard liner past Knight for the first goal of the game.

The Hawks only held onto the lead for a minute and a half, when Nick Lampson won the puck and went on a breakaway drive down the length of the ice, dribbling past freshman goaltender Corey Cotnoir (Bow, N.H.), and tying the game at one apiece heading into the first intermission.

The Hawks outshot the Vikings 20-5 in the first period, but Lampson's goal fired up the team and gave them the momentum they needed.  At 2:08 in the second period, Brett Noll took a shot that was saved by Cotnoir, but Derek Crocker picked up the rebound to give the Vikings the lead, 2-1.  Five minutes later at 7:24, Mike Genovese sent a crossing pass to Ian Flanagan by the net, who shoved it past Cotnoir for a third goal.  Just under two minutes after that, Dan Rowland flipped in a goal, and at 10:41 in the period, Nick Lampson took a crossing pass from Alex Eisath to give the Vikings a quick 5-1 lead.

Early in the third period, two overlapping Viking penalties gave the Hawks a 5-on-3 power-play situation.  The Hawks jumped at the advantage, netting two goals before both penalties could run out.  At 7:46, just 10 seconds into the two-man advantage, Coleman Noonan flipped the puck into the net to score one for the Hawks, assisted by Timothy King and Ryan Holley.  Fifty-six seconds later, Noonan took a shot from near the blue line, and Tucker Mullin (Andover, Mass.) banked it in to cut the Hawks' deficit to two with 11 minutes remaining in the game.  Mullin, the ECAC East and Northeast-10 Player of the Week, extended his offensive hot-streak on the play; the Saint Anselm rookie has now scored eight goals and two assists in his past four games, netting at least one goal in all four competitions.

The Hawks' offense hoped to continue the comeback, but two penalties late in the period set the Hawks on the defensive for the remainder of the game.  At 19:03, shortly after the completion of two overlapping Hawk penalties, Ian Flanagan shoved in his second goal of the game to give the Vikings a 6-3 victory.

The Hawks outshot the Vikings 45-27 in the game, including 20-5 in the first period and 15-8 in the third, but it was the Vikings' dominant second period that made the difference in the game.  Freshman goaltender Andrew Knight made 42 saves in the game to pick up his first career win for the Vikings.  Freshman Corey Cotnoir made 11 saves and allowed the first five goals in 31:16 minutes in the net.  ECAC East and Northeast-10 Goaltender of the Week Alex Wyse (Amherst, N.Y.) made 10 saves in 28:26 minutes of relief, allowing just the one goal in the final minute of the game.

The Hawks close out the regular season with a three-game road trip beginning this Friday, February 19th.  The team will travel to Brunswick, Maine to take on the No. 12 Bowdoin College Polar Bears in an inter-conference game beginning at 7:00 pm.