Manchester, N.H. (April 13) -- After falling behind 2-0 in the first 1:23 of the game, Saint Anselm rallied past Saint Michael's for a thrilling 9-8 win over the Purple Knights on Tuesday afternoon. The win is the first regular-season win for the Hawks over Saint Michael's since March 31, 2004. With the victory, Saint Anselm claims the Saints Stick, a handmade, stained-glass lacrosse stick awarded to the winning team each year in the rivalry.

Dave Brown got the Purple Knights on the board just 46 seconds in, followed by a Charlie Niznansky goal just 37 seconds later to force a Saint Anselm timeout, with the Hawks trailing 2-0. Saint Anselm got on the board at the 8:10 mark of the opening period with a score from senior Matt O'Connell (Charlestown, Mass.), but it was the Purple Knights who took a commanding 4-1 lead thru the first quarter.

In the second quarter, junior Ryan Henry (Norwood, Mass.) scored his sixth goal of the year off an assist from O'Connell to cut the lead down to 4-2 at the 13:14 mark. Peter Donnally pushed the lead back to 5-2 before Saint Anselm senior Ryan McDonald (Bow, N.H.) scored at the 6:07 and 2:31 marks to make it a 5-4 game heading into the final minutes of the first half. With just two seconds left in the half, senior Jeff Dunkle (Exeter, N.H.) took a pass from O'Connell for his first goal of the game and sent the game into halftime tied at 5-5. The assist was the 100th career assist for O'Connell, making him just the second Hawk with 100 career assists.

Just 55 seconds into the third quarter, McDonald scored a man-up goal for the Hawks to give the hosts their first lead of the game at 6-5. Andy Buccellato tied things at 6-6 with 10:30 left, but freshman Conor O'Donnell (Smithfield, R.I.) took a pass from O'Connell and put the Hawks in front for good at 7-6 with 1:30 left in the period. The two teams traded goals in the final quarter, but the Hawks hung on for the important Northeast-10 victory.

Saint Anselm netminder Pat Acone (Bow, N.H.) turned aside 10 shots in the win, while Zach Jandl made eight saves in the defeat. McDonald led the Hawk offense with a hat trick, while O'Connell had one goal and three assists. Colin Lacey (South Hadley, Mass.) finished the game with one goal and two assists as well.

Saint Anselm improves to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the Northeast-10, while Saint Michael's is 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the league. The Hawks are back in action on Saturday, April 17th when the team hosts Franklin Pierce for a Northeast-10 game beginning at 3 p.m. at Melucci Field.