MANCHESTER, N.H. – Saint Anselm took advantage of a four-goal second period with tallies by juniors Franny Nicholson (St. Paul, Minn.) and Tiffany Herron (Clinton Township, Mich.), as well as sophomores Sarah Geisinger (Willoughby, Ohio) and Alex Kazmer (Crystal Lake, Ill.) to take down the Ravens of Franklin Pierce, 5-0, Sunday afternoon at Sullivan Arena.
The Hawks grab their eighth straight and propel to 11-1 on the season, while the Ravens dip to 9-2.
After wading through the first two minutes of action that was controlled by Franklin Pierce, Saint Anselm dominated the majority of the remainder of the opening period and finished with a 17-5 advantage in shots.
The Hawks' most dangerous chance of the stanza came at the 8:40 mark of the period when they came up empty-handed on a 2-on-1 break. Junior Sabrina Iannetti (Lynn, Mass.) carried the puck into the offensive zone on the right side before drawing her defender near the right circle and dishing across the slot to freshman Alexandra Starzyk (Enfield, Conn.), who was barely able to collect the puck near the far post before pushing it wide.
Nicholson began the scoring party 6:48 into the second period as she picked up a loose puck and skated down the left side before firing a backhand shot from the low slot that beat Franklin Pierce goaltender Noelle White. Herron then made it a 2-0 game when she crashed the net and picked up a rebound from a Kazmer shot and flipped in the loose puck at 7:41. Senior Courtney Winters (Swampscott, Mass.) was also assisting on the play.
It was Geisinger's turn at 11:47 when she slapped in a puck off a seemingly harmless clear on the penalty kill. Senior Andi Foss (Elko, Minn.) cleared the puck all the way down the ice before it caromed off the boards and past White, who chose not to play it. Geisinger skated in all alone, collected the puck and buried a wrister into the top of the right corner. Kazmer potted the 4-0 tally as she tipped in a Foss shot from the blue line at 13:23. Herron initiated the play with a pass from the top of the right circle to Foss, who was waiting at the blue line.
Foss iced the game in the third period with a short-handed goal at 9:24 when she skated in through the circles and jammed the puck past Raven goaltender Shannon O'Neil for the 5-0 score.
Saint Anselm senior goalie Lindsey Brown (Mounds View, Minn.) made 12 saves to earn the shutout and improve to 7-1-0 overall, while White and Shannon O'Neil each made 21 saves.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 4 p.m. when travel to Bowdoin College. The next home game for the Hawks is Friday, Jan. 17 at 4 p.m. when they play host to New England 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.
