WORCESTER, Mass. – Freshmen Alexandra Starzyk (Enfield, Conn.) and Alison Quinn (Canton, Mass.) scored goals as the Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team rallied from a 1-0 deficit to beat the College of the Holy Cross, 2-1, and capture its sixth ECAC Open title, including the third straight, Sunday evening at the Hart Recreation Center.
The Hawks, who had never won three consecutive ECAC Open Championships prior to the victory, win their ninth straight contest to finish the season 24-3-0, which matches the best record in program history from the 2006-07 season. The 24 wins are a personal best for head coach Kerstin Matthews, who has twice guided the Hawks to 20 victories prior to this season. It was Matthews' fifth championship game appearance and her third title with the Hawks. The Crusaders, who fell to Saint Anselm for the third time this season, wrap up their campaign at 18-7-1.
The Hawks generated the first dangerous chance of the game after Holy Cross turned it over in its own defensive zone. Freshman Alison Butler (Danvers, Mass.) skated on to the puck at the right point and went in all alone, but her wrister from the right circle was deflected up into the netting by Crusaders' goaltender Krista Manzanares.
Manzanares came up big again two minutes later as senior Courtney Winters (Swampscott, Mass.) tried to slide the puck across the slot from left-to-right for Quinn on a 2-on-0, but the Holy Cross goaltender poked the puck away to negate what would have been an easy goal for Quinn had the pass made it through.
Saint Anselm junior goaltender Lindsey Brown (Mounds View, Minn.) jumped in on the action with under five minutes to play in the opening frame when Mary Klimasewiski skated in alone and fired a wrister from the right side of the slot that Brown snatched out of the air with her glove.
Holy Cross finally broke the deadlock at the 8:33 mark of the middle frame when Taylor McGee sent a blast from the left point that made it through traffic and into the back of the net. Mackenzie Boardman picked up an assist on the play.
The Hawks gained the equalizer 3:35 later when senior Andi Foss (Elko, Minn.) sent a bomb from the left point that was stopped by Manzanares, but the rebound squirted out to the left where Starzyk knocked it to knot the game at one. After skating 4-on-4 for 1:21, the Hawks had a 40-second power play and made good on it as Starzyk, who also scored Saint Anselm's first goal of the game in Saturday's 5-0 semifinal win against Saint Michael's College, buried the puck with just 13 seconds remaining on the extra-skater opportunity. Senior Jacqueline Bouchie (Belmont, Mass.) collected a secondary assist on the play.
Saint Anselm went ahead 2-1 just 35 seconds into the third period when Quinn buried a rebound from the right circle after Manzanares had stopped a pair of shots from her and Winters. The assist for Winters was the 64th of her career, which moved her into second place all-time in program history – one ahead of former teammate Kathryn Picarello and four behind former teammate Rosemarie Giarrusso. Bouchie also notched her second helper of the contest.
Brown made 14 saves, while Manzanares stopped 21 shots. The Hawks outshot Holy Cross, 23-15, including 9-4 in the third period. Saint Anselm was also 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Crusaders came up empty on a pair of extra-skater opportunities.
This marked the final game for seniors Winters, Foss and Bouchie. Winters finished second in program history in points (132) and assists (64), as well as third in goals (68). She trails the leader in each respective category by eight points, four assists and seven goals.
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.
