MANCHESTER, N.H. - Five different skaters scored goals for the Hawks as the Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team posted a 5-0 shutout against the Beacons of the University of Massachusetts at Boston Saturday evening at Thomas F. Sullivan Arena. With the victory, the Hawks reach double-digit victories (10-4-0) and collect their fifth conference win of the season (5-4-0 ECAC). The Beacons fall to 5-7-2 overall and drop their fifth conference contest of the season (3-5-1 ECAC).
Forward Michelle Lacombe (Delafield, Wisc.) scored her first goal of the season at 3:01 of the first period, placing the Hawks ahead early by a 1-0 margin. An offensive face-off victory by Aly Zappen (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was won back to Lacombe, who cut to the slot. A quick wrist shot beat goaltender Leah Hallett for the score.
With the puck dumped into the left wing corner, forward Tiffany Herron (Clinton Township, Mich.) and her aggressive forecheck gave the Hawks additional breathing room with Saint Anselm's second tally of the afternoon at 9:02 of the first period. Skating in across the blueline, Herron picked the puck off of the stick of a Beacons defender and skated in on goal. A quick wrist shot evaded Hallett, granting Saint Anselm the 2-0 lead.
Forward Kathryn Picarello (West Roxbury, Mass.) scored her fourth goal of the season at 3:46 of the second period, extending the Hawks advantage to 3-0. In heavy crease traffic on the power play, Picarello collected a rebound near the left post and forced the puck past Hallett for the strike. Forward Rosemarie Giarrusso (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and defenseman Molly Corl (Georgetown, Mass.) collected helpers on the play.
On the power play, forward Courtney Winters (Swampscott, Mass.) scored her 10th goal of the season at 13:32 of the middle stanza, further extending the Saint Anselm lead over the Beacons. Defenseman Angela Zevnik (Greenfield, Wisc.) fired a shot on goal from the top of the slot that was blocked down in front of the cage. Crashing the crease was Winters, who forced the puck home near the left post to reach double-digit goals for the second-straight season in a Hawks uniform.
In the waning seconds of the second period, Aly Zappen scored her fifth goal of the season at 19:46 of the period. In the neutral zone, Herron picked off a neutral zone turnover and forced the puck ahead to a streaking Zappen. Entering the zone unopposed, Zappen deked Hallett between the face-off circles and roofed a backhanded shot past the sprawling goaltender for the strike. Forward Ciara Petry (Poolesville, Md.) also added an assist on the play.
Hawks goaltender Amy Zappen (Huntington Beach, Calif.) collected her ninth victory of the season, turning aside all 11 shots on goal for her fourth shutout of the season. Hallett (3-7-1) halted 48-of-53 shots on net but drew the loss.
Saint Anselm converted two-of-four opportunities on the power play. UMass Boston was 0-for-2 with the extra skater.
NOTABLES: All-time, the Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team has an 11-2-0 record in 13 games…The Hawks' last loss to the Beacons was on Dec. 8, 2008, dropping a 3-2 road decisions…Saint Anselm extends their perfect record against the Beacons on home ice to six games (6-0-0)…With her second period goal, forward Courtney Winters recorded a goal in her fourth-straight game, recording five points (4-1=5) during that span…With an assist on forward Kathryn Picarello's second period strike, forward Rosemarie Giarrusso is in the midst of a seven game point streak, recording 10 points (3-7=10) during that time frame…Defenseman Molly Corl is also riding a six game point streak, scoring a goal and six assists for seven points (1-6=7)…Forward Aly Zappen assisted on the game-winning goal for the second-straight game...The Hawks are currently riding a five-game winning streak after tonight's victory and have not lost in regulation time dating back to Nov. 19 against nationally-ranked Norwich University by a 6-0 margin.
The Hawks embark on a five-game road trip beginning Friday, Jan. 20 as they travel to the University of Southern Maine to take part in a 4:00 p.m. contest. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by friending us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and following us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).
