MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sophomore Daniel Sullivan (Rumford, R.I.) and junior Tyler Steinetz (Sparta, N.J.) each registered two goals, but the Saint Anselm men's lacrosse team fell just short against cross-town rival, Southern New Hampshire University, 7-6, at Melucci Field on Wednesday afternoon.

With their second one-goal loss of the season, the Hawks fall to 0-5 overall and 0-2 in Northeast-10 play. The Penmen improve to 2-4, 1-2 NE-10 with their first victory against Saint Anselm in nearly five years.

After SNHU struck first, just 54 seconds into the game, the Hawks roared back with three straight goals from Sullivan, freshman Jake Mallinson (Middletown, R.I.) and Steinetz, to take a 3-1 lead midway through the opening quarter. The Mallinson and Steinetz goals came just eight seconds apart.

Keith Merluzzo netted his second tally of the game with 5:16 to go before Marc Novaco scored with 34 seconds left in the quarter to knot it at three. Greg Reynolds assisted on all three goals in the quarter.

The Penmen tallied the second quarter's only goal with 10:14 on the clock to take a 4-3 lead. Steinetz pulled the Hawks even just 50 seconds into the second half, but three straight Southern New Hampshire goals in the final 4:53 of the third quarter opened up a 7-4 lead for the Penmen.

The Hawks would not go away, however, as they made it 7-5 on a goal by freshman Tim Glynn (Suffield, Conn.) with 9:57 to play in the fourth quarter. Sullivan, who earned the assist on Glynn's goal, pulled Saint Anselm within one when he found the back of the net off a feed from senior Ryan Henry (Norwood, Mass.) with 6:45 remaining. The assist was Henry's second of the afternoon.

Saint Anselm possessed the ball for the final minute of the game, but could not generate any scoring chances, as SNHU escaped with its first victory against the Hawks since April 17, 2006.

Senior goalkeeper Dan Flynn (Wakefield, Mass.) made 13 saves, including five in the fourth quarter. Brendan O'Brien stopped 14 shots from the Penmen, including six in the second quarter.

The Hawks, who controlled 10 of the 15 faceoffs, held a 40-31 shot advantage, including 12-5 in the second quarter. Both teams were 0-for-2 on extra-man opportunities.

Saint Anselm returns to action Saturday, April 2 at 1 p.m. when it plays host to Adelphi University at Melucci Field.