MANCHESTER, N.H. – Four different Hawks scored a goal and sophomore Shauna Whittemore (Bennington, N.H.) made eight saves as the Saint Anselm College field hockey team earned a 4-0 win against Saint Michael's College on Tuesday afternoon at Grappone Stadium.
The Hawks snap a three-game losing skid to improve to 3-5 on the season, including 1-2 in Northeast-10 play. The Purple Knights, meanwhile, drop to 2-7, 0-2 NE-10.
Senior Elizabeth Sears (Danvers, Mass.) tallied a goal and an assist, while sophomore Richelle Davis (Enfield, Conn.), junior Bridget Davis (Mansfield, Mass.) and sophomore Channing Hodgkins (Cumberland, Maine) each potted a goal in the victory. Coming into the contest, Sears had accounted for just shy of 70 percent of the Saint Anselm offense, so the balanced offensive attack came at the perfect time for the Hawks.
Saint Anselm snapped a scoreless deadlock with just under five minutes to play in the opening half when sophomore Colleen Sears (Danvers, Mass.) dumped the ball down in front from the middle of the circle where classmate Richelle Davis slapped it off Saint Michael's goalkeeper Jackie Chisholm and into the cage for the 1-0 lead.
The Hawks pried the flood gates open a little more just 2:04 into the second stanza as their fourth penalty corner of the game and first of the new half led to goal No. 2. Elizabeth Sears tracked the ball down high in the circle off the insert and sent a pass to her left for Bridget Davis, whose high blast tucked itself into the back left side of the net to make it 2-0.
Liz Sears, who has now had a hand in 11 of the Hawks' 14 goals this season, grabbed one of her own at the 42:45 mark when she collected the loose rebound off her own shot in the middle of the circle and rifled it past Chisholm into the left side to widen the gap to three.
Hodgkins completely broke it open and snapped a streak of 13 straight goals to start the season that a Sears had either scored or assisted on with 8:54 on the clock when she unleashed an absolute rocket from the right side of the circle that snuck inside the far post to stretch the lead to 4-0.
The shutout was Whittemore's second of the season. Chisholm stopped six shots for the Purple Knights.
Saint Anselm outshot Saint Michael's, 15-10, while the Purple Knights held a 17-9 advantage in penalty corners.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. when they play host to American International College at Grappone. The Hawks will be hosting their third annual "Corners for the Cure" initiative to support Susan G. Komen For The Cure. T-shirts will be on sale at the game for $10, with all proceeds going to the NH/VT chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. 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 and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.
