MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Kevin Vanous (Virginia Beach, Va.) and sophomore Mark Meads (Middleton, Mass.) scored the game's only goals and senior goaltender Nick Dries (Commerce Township, Mich.) made 35 saves as the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team earned a 2-0 victory against Southern New Hampshire University on Tuesday night in Northeast-10 action at Thomas F. Sullivan Arena.
The Hawks win for the third time in four games to improve to 8-9-4 on the season and remain perfect in Northeast-10 play at 4-0-0. The Penmen drop to 13-7-1, 5-3-0 NE-10.
The teams played nearly two periods of scoreless hockey with the most dangerous chance coming with just under seven minutes remaining in the opening period. SNHU set up a 2-on-1 with Jay Sylvia sending a quick pass across the slot from left-to-right for Jim Gabrione, who was stuffed by the left pad of Dries to keep the game deadlocked.
The Hawks' best opportunity came with 45 seconds left in the second period when senior Joe Tebano (Glastonbury, Conn.) dished a pass from the center-ice neutral zone up to junior Johnny Daniels (Andover, Mass.) in the slot, but SNHU goaltender Tyler Holske was up to the task and made the stop.
Saint Anselm did break through with just 21.3 seconds on the clock in the middle frame on a great play off an offensive-zone faceoff. Sophomore Bryan Sullivan (Burlington, Mass.) won the faceoff at the left dot and collected the puck himself near the endline. He drove toward the net before slipping a quick pass around a defender for Vanous, who easily put the puck into the back of the net.
Meads added an empty netter off an assist from Tebano with 1:05 to play in the game.
Dries made 14 of his saves in the second period, while Holske stopped 14 shots for the Penmen, who outshot Saint Anselm, 35-16, including 24-10 through two periods. Both teams were 0-for-7 on the power play.
The Hawks return to action Friday, Feb. 7 at 7 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.
