HENNIKER, N.H. – Forward Tucker Mullin (Andover, Mass.) scored his ninth goal of the season to lift the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team to a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Pilgrims of New England College Friday afternoon at the Lee Clement Ice Arena. With the victory, the Hawks improve to 11-8-3 overall on the season and to 5-8-2 within the ECAC Men's East. New England College drops their 10th decision of the year, falling to 9-10-4 overall and to 6-6-3 within conference play.
Only 58 seconds following a Pilgrims goal to tie the game at four aside, Mullin's game-winning goal pushed the Hawks ahead by a 5-4 margin in the waning minutes. Defenseman Evan Gogonis (Northboro, Mass.) collected the lone assist on Mullin's first game-winning goal of the season.
Following a scoreless first period, Saint Anselm scored four unanswered goals in the middle stanza to jump out to a 4-0 lead exiting second period play. Forward Eric Czapka (Holland, Pa.) converted a penalty shot opportunity following an Aki Uola (Turku, Finland) delay of game penalty after knocking the goal off of its moorings. Forward Sean Jenkins (Boston, Mass.) also added his seventh goal of the season on a partial breakaway preceded by a nifty feed from defenseman Greg Merrill (Brighton, Mich.).
Forward Liam McKillop scored on the power play at 9:07 of the second period, placing Saint Anselm ahead by a 3-0 margin. Mullin swung a pass across the slot that was driven home by McKillop for the score. After an extended Hawks penalty kill, forward John Hyslip (Andover, Mass.) scored his second goal in as many days against the Pilgrims, sending home a Tim King (Weymouth, Mass.) feed just across the blueline.
The Pilgrims were quick to answer in the third period, as four unanswered goals of their own knotted the game at four apiece prior to Mullin's heroics. Sophomore forward Matt Abbott (Kirkland, Quebec) scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at 1:39 of the third period, wrapping the puck around the Hawks cage following a Saint Anselm turnover that beat netminder Robert Kang (Glen Rock, N.J.) for the score.
Johan Qvarfordt (Sodertalje, Sweden) scored the next three goals for the Pilgrims, netting two power play goals following a five-minute major to Merrill for making contact to the head of a New England College player. Defenseman Andre Stalberg (Alingsas, Sweden) and forward Samuli Turunen (Joensuu, Finland) each posted two assists while sophomore defenseman Freddie Bystorm (Stockholm, Sweden) also gathered an assist on Qvarfordt's third strike of the period.
Kang (7-2-1) posted his seventh victory of the season, turning aside 32-of-36 shots on net. New England goaltender Shawn Sirman (Blezard Valley, Ontario) drew his 10th loss of the season, halting 18-of-23 shots on goal. Both teams also combined for 92 minutes in penalties, with New England College the recipient of 57 minutes in penalties as opposed to Saint Anselm's 35 minutes in penalties.
Saint Anselm was 1-for-8 on the power play. New England was 2-for-11 with the extra skater.
NOTABLES: Saint Anselm holds the 29-27-1 advantage all-time against the Pilgrims of New England College…Forward Tim King has maintained a 11-game point streak dating back to Southern Maine on Jan. 13, scoring three goals and 15 assists for 18 points (3-15=18) during that span…Forward Tucker Mullin scored his first game-winning goal of the season this afternoon…Hawks goaltender Robert Kang is 4-0-0 dating back to a 7-4 victory against Saint Michael's on Feb. 4…Forward John Hyslip scored his second goal in as many games against the Pilgrims.
Saint Anselm carries a four-game winning streak into action on Friday, Feb. 17 as they travel to face-off against the University of New England in a 7:00 p.m. contest. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by following along on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks.
