BIDDEFORD, Maine – University of New England's Zeth Zielinski scored at 8:59 of the third period to break a 3-3 tie and give the Nor'easters a 4-3 win over Saint Anselm College in ECAC Men's East ice hockey action on Friday evening at the Harold Alfond Forum.

The victory was the first-ever for the Nor'easters in five meetings with the Hawks as Saint Anselm drops to 7-3-2 overall and 4-3-1 in conference play, while UNE improves to 4-9-0 and 2-6-0 in the league.

Zielinksi notched the game-winner when he one-timed a cross-ice pass by sophomore Nick Kolb from the left side. Classmate Jared Melman was credited with a secondary assist on the play.

The Hawks were unable to find the equalizer in the closing stages of the contest, despite having numerous shots on goal late in the final stanza and pulling goaltender, junior Nick Dries (Commerce Township, Mich.) with a minute remaining.

Saint Anselm jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the opening minute when sophomore Liam McKillop (New York, N.Y.) raced in on the left side and rifled a wrister just inside the far post and under the crossbar.

UNE tied the score less than four minutes later when Fred Hein chipped a pass ahead to Adam Laite, who handled the puck around a drawn-out Dries and pushed it into the cage.

With two players in the penalty box, Saint Anselm pulled ahead on a short-handed goal by sophomore Johnny Daniels (Andover, Mass.). Daniels collected a rebound off his own shot and converted at 11:16 of the first period to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.

UNE pulled even once again at 6:39 of the second when Ryan Quinn tallied his team-leading seventh goal. Laite and junior Sean Sullivan set-up the power-play score.

Shayne Youngclaus then gave the hosts a 3-2 lead with just under five minutes left in the frame, when Sam Vikich found him with a pass from behind the cage.

Hawk senior Mike Richard (Derry, N.H.) tied the tilt with 3:03 left in the period, scoring his team-leading 10th goal when he connected with senior Evan Gogonis (Northboro, Mass.) and McKillop.

Dries was dished his first loss for the 2012-13 campaign, as he made 20 stops for the Hawks, who held a 37-24 advantage in shots on goal.

Playing in his first game in a UNE uniform, goaltender Colby Drost had 34 saves. Drost recently transferred after playing a year-and-a-half for nationally-ranked Niagara University.

The Hawks will return to action Saturday, Jan. 12 when they wrap up their four-game road stint at the University of Southern Maine in a 4 p.m. puck drop. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and following us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).