Manchester, N.H. (April 3) – Pace scored five unanswered goals in the second half to build a 10-5 lead over Saint Anselm as the Hawks dropped a 14-9 final to the Setters on Saturday afternoon at Melucci Field. The win snaps a three-game Saint Anselm winning streak in the all-time series.

Pace got on the board early with a goal from Thomas Earl (North Babylon, N.Y.) just 1:02 into the game. Saint Anselm senior Jeff Dunkle (Exeter, N.H.) answered with three straight goals though and the Hawks held the early 3-1 advantage midway through the first quarter. After Earl closed the visitors back to within 3-2 after the first quarter, Saint Anselm senior Matt O'Connell (Charlestown, Mass.) found the back of the net to make it 4-2 Saint Anselm just 16 seconds into the second.

The Setters took advantage of a number of Saint Anselm penalties in a quick 3-0 run, including two man-up goals, to briefly seize a 5-4 lead with 4:05 left in the second quarter. Sophomore Colin Lacey (S. Hadley, Mass.) closed out the first half though with a man-up goal of his own to send the game into the break tied at 5-5.

The Setters came out blistering in the third quarter as Nicholas Pellerito (Glen Cove, N.Y.) assisted on five straight Pace goals and the visitors took control at 10-5 with 6:44 left in the period. The Hawks used unassisted goals from Ryan Henry (Norwood, Mass.) and Lacey though to claw back to within 10-7 heading into the final quarter.

Four straight Pace goals to open the fourth put the game out of reach at 14-7 though, with Saint Anselm adding late scores from senior Ryan McDonald (Bow, N.H.) and Dunkle to account for the 14-9 final score.

Dunkle led the Hawks with four goals, while O'Connell had five assists and one goal.

Earl had four goals, along with three from Joseph Clark (Hopkinton, Mass.) for the Setters. Pellerito led all players with five assists in the win.

Junior Pat Acone (Bow, N.H.) made 12 saves in net for the Hawks in the loss, while graduate student Sean Kearney (Mahopac, N.Y.) turned aside 17 shots for the Setters in the road victory.

With the loss, Saint Anselm is now 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Northeast-10, while Pace falls to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the league. The Hawks are back in action on Wednesday night as the team travels to Merrimack for a 7 p.m. start at Warrior Field in North Andover, Mass.