MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior John Hyslip (Andover, Mass.) scored two goals as the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team took down the Skyhawks of Stonehill College, 6-3, Saturday evening in the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Championship tournament.
With the win, the Hawks jump to a 15-8-3 overall record and advance to the Northeast-10 championship game, while the Skyhawks end their 2012-13 season at 11-15-0.
The Hawks jumped on the board at 13:17 of the opening frame when senior Tim King (Weymouth, Mass.) tipped in a short pass from junior Alex Pascal (Blue Bell, Pa.) at the left post. Junior Joe Tebano (Glastonbury, Conn.) initiated the sequence with a feed to Pascal from the blue line.
Saint Anselm doubled its lead at 18:51 when senior Tucker Mullin (Andover, Mass.) slipped in a loose puck behind Stonehill goaltender Chris Tasiopoulos. Freshman Jon Ahern (Melrose, Mass.) took a shot on net that ricocheted off Tasiopoulos's glove and dropped behind him where Mullin found the puck and knocked it in.
The middle period consisted of three goals in the first four minutes of play and no scoring action for the remainder of the stanza.
Stonehill opened the scoring, 14 seconds into the period with a goal from Bryan Rooney. Rooney picked up the rebound off a Brendan Greene shot from the high slot and shoveled the puck past Saint Anselm junior goaltender Nick Dries (Commerce Township, Mich.).
The Hawks answered back at 2:10, to make the game 3-1 as Hyslip fought from the right corner toward the net and sent the puck past Tasiopoulos. Senior Bryan Luther (Scituate, R.I.) started the play with his pass to Hyslip.
Stonehill added another tally to its score two minutes later at 3:54 when Sean McNeill forwarded a pass to Richard Harris from behind the net and McNeill sent a wrister past Dries from the slot.
The Skyhawks scored again at the 9:09 mark – for their first back-to-back scoring performance of the night. The play began to brew as Harris dished a centering pass to Bill Carey, who one-timed the puck into the open left side, to tie the game at three apiece.
Saint Anselm answered, however, just over a minute later when Pascal tipped in Tebano's drive from the point at 10:40 for the go-ahead tally.
The Hawks added some insurance to their one-goal lead when Hyslip notched his second goal of the game. Bryan Sullivan (Burlington, Mass.) took a turn-around shot from the top of the left circle that was deflected in the slot by Tyler Savage (Johns Creek, Ga.). Hyslip picked up the loose puck and batted it in past Tasiopoulos.
The Hawks' final blow came from junior Greg Crovo (Melrose, Mass.) in the form of an empty-net goal at 19:52.
Dries, who improves to 9-2-0 on the season, made 19 saves, while Tasipoulos stopped 44 of 50 shots.
The Hawks held a 50-22 advantage in shots on goal.
Saint Anselm will face off with No. 2 Franklin Pierce on Saturday, March 2 in the Northeast-10 Championship title game at Thomas F. Sullivan Arena. 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).
