MANCHESTER, N.H. – Freshman Alison Butler (Danvers, Mass.) and senior Andi Foss (Elko, Minn.) each scored goals to lead the Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team to Saturday afternoon's 2-1 victory against Castleton State College at Thomas F. Sullivan Arena.
The Hawks improve to 14-2-0 on the season, including 7-1-0 in ECAC East play, while the Spartans fall to 10-7-0, 5-3-0 ECAC East.
After a scoreless and penalty-free opening period, the Hawks were first to break the ice 5:10 into the middle stanza when Butler wheeled around the back of the net with the puck to the bottom of the right circle and drifted toward the net before lifting a shot that snuck in under the crossbar to give Saint Anselm a 1-0 edge. Junior Tiffany Herron (Clinton Township, Mich.) picked up an assist on the shorthanded tally.
The Hawks nearly doubled their lead at the 10:44 mark as a rebound off a shot from freshman Martha Findley (Duxbury, Mass.) caromed out to the middle of the slot with Castleton goaltender Paula Stephens down by the right post, but sophomore Sarah Geisinger (Willoughby, Ohio) could not settle the puck in front of the open net.
Saint Anselm junior goaltender Lindsey Brown (Mounds View, Minn.) then preserved the Hawks' lead with 4:33 remaining in the second period as she snuffed out a Castleton 2-on-1 breakaway. Nicoline Jensen streaked down the left side with Anna Daniels on her right and reached the middle of the near circle before slipping a quick pass across the slot, but Brown slid to her left and thwarted Daniels' attempt.
Castleton gained the equalizer just 1:47 into the third period as Allie Howard received a pass up ice from Samantha Pion and skated into the high slot before releasing a shot that beat Brown to knot it at 1-all. Taylor Skelton earned a secondary assist on the play.
The Hawks pulled ahead on the power play with 8:28 remaining in regulation as Geisinger pulled the puck out of a scrum at the top of the right circle and backhanded it to the left point for Foss, who took a few strides to the top of the left circle and wristed a high shot through traffic that deflected off a defender and changed direction at the last second as it snuck over Stephens' glove. Senior Courtney Winters (Swampscott, Mass.) was also credited with an assist on the play.
Brown made 15 saves, including 13 over the final two periods, while Stephens stopped 33 shots. The Hawks held a 35-16 advantage in shots, including 11-2 in the opening stanza. Saint Anselm went 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Spartans came up empty on their only extra-skater opportunity.
This was the third contest of Saint Anselm ice hockey's annual four-game Pink in the Rink weekend, in which the men's and women's teams raise both money and awareness for breast cancer. This year, the teams are donating all earned monies to the Breast Cancer Research Wing at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester.
The Hawks return to action Friday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. when they play host to Saint Michael's College at Sullivan. 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.
