MANCHESTER, N.H. – A heated battle with plenty of implications was the storyline entering Saturday evening's men's hockey matchup, as Saint Anselm and Saint Michael's skated to a thrilling and hard-fought 4-4 tie.
Saint Michael's took control early in the first period, tallying two quick goals within the first 10 minutes of the game. It looked as if the Purple Knights were going to take an even more commanding lead, but Saint Anselm senior forward Sean Jenkins (Boston, Mass.) stole the puck near mid-ice and wristed one off the stick side of Saint Michael's goaltender Dave Donzanti. The puck ricocheted about 8 feet into the air, where Johnny Daniels (Andover, Mass.) gloved it, set it down and swiped it home top shelf to tally a short-handed goal with just eight seconds left in the period.
The Hawks carried much of that momentum into the second period, as they skated on a mission early. Using a long power play opportunity and a tangle in front of the Purple Knight crease, junior defenseman Tyler Estee (Bow, N.H.) found Jenkins in the near right corner, who played it top center to junior forward Bryan Sullivan (Burlington, Mass.). Just as the Saint Michael's goalie returned to position, he was met with Sullivan's deep shot that just squirted past left pipe to tie the game at 2-2.
After a turnover deep in the Saint Anselm zone, Purple Knight AJ Pieprzak retook the lead just one minute later with an unassisted score. But Saint Anselm would answer again on another top-shelf goal from sophomore forward CJ Blaszka (Brookfield, Conn.) at the midpoint of the period, tallying his first career goal in much-needed fashion.
Blazska wasn't done, however, as he added the go-ahead goal with seven minutes remaining in the third period, finding the rebound off a shot from junior forward Mark Meads (Middleton, Mass.) to beat Donzanti glove-side again.
The Purple Knights pulled their goalie with 1:38 left on the game clock, down one goal and needing a late charge to pull even. That late charge came from who other than Pieprzak, who took the pass off a faceoff and snuck a deep shot from the left wing past Saint Anselm freshman goaltender Shane Joyce (Pembroke, Mass.) to record a hat-trick and send the game into overtime.
Neither team was able to find the game-winning tally in the extra session, as both teams would have to settle for a point apiece in the league standings.
Joyce would move to 2-2-1 overall with the tie, tallying 31 saves—his second straight 30-plus save output.
Saturday's matchup, which showcased the Northeast-10 Conference and Eastern College Athletic Conference East division rivals, actually counted toward both league standings for the Hawks and Purple Knights. The draw moves Saint Anselm to 2-3-1 overall, 2-3-1 in ECAC East play and 0-0-1 in Northeast-10 Conference play. Saint Michael's moves to 3-2-1, 2-2-1 and 1-0-1, respectively, in the same leagues.
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