CASTLETON, Vt. – The senior trio of Johnny Daniels (Andover, Mass.), Matt Buckley (Canton, Mass.) and Sean Jenkins (Boston, Mass.) all scored in the final 12 minutes of the game as the Saint Anselm men's hockey team pulled out a come-from-behind 5-4 victory Friday night at Castleton State in a huge Eastern College Athletic Conference East matchup.
The Hawks opened up its first road trip of the year on a high note, securing its first win of the 2014-15 season in dramatic fashion. In total, 11 different Hawks tallied a point on the day, including eight players earning their first of the season.
Castleton (2-2, 2-1 ECAC East) broke through early in the first period with a pair of scores that got past Saint Anselm freshman goaltender Shane Joyce (Pembroke, Mass.). Junior forward Bryan Sullivan (Burlington, Mass.) countered with a power play goal on assists from Jenkins and sophomore Nick Leonard (Methuen, Mass.) to close to 2-1 entering the first intermission.
Saint Anselm (1-2, 1-2 ECAC East) entered the second period with a 5-on-4 power play, but it was the Spartans who picked up a short-handed goal just 20 seconds into the second stanza. Freshman defenseman Ryan Peterson (Brockton, Mass.) came up huge when the Hawks needed an answer, ringing up his first career goal on assists from freshman Justin Longo (Wakefield, Mass.) and sophomore Brendon Kerrigan (Boston, Mass.) to keep within striking distance heading into the second intermission.
For the third time Friday, Castleton snagged an early-period goal, this time at the 1:52 mark to once again take a two-goal lead. Yet that's when Saint Anselm's senior class erupted for the final three goals over a 5-minute, 30-second span to claim the lead for the first time
Daniels scored his first goal of the year on assists from junior Mark Meads (Middleton, Mass.) and sophomore Lonnie Taylor (Raymond, Maine) at the 8:21 mark. Buckley locked the game at 4-4 off assists from senior Kody Grondin (Hampton, N.H.) and Leonard's second of the day. Finally, just over a minute after Buckley's goal, Jenkins tacked on the game-winner—his second goal of the year—off assists from Peterson and Daniels to steal away the road win.
Jenkins, Daniels and Peterson all tacked on a goal and an assist for a two-point day, while Leonard added a pair of assists.
Joyce improved his season and career record to 1-1 between the pipes and tallied 20 saves Friday evening.
A bit of momentum will hopefully carry over into Saturday's matchup, as Saint Anselm crosses the New York state line to take on Skidmore Saturday afternoon. The Thoroughbreds dropped their Friday evening game to New England College, 4-1. Gametime for Saint Anselm and Skidmore is set for 4 p.m. at Saratoga Springs City Rink.
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