SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – Senior Mark Meads (Middleton, Mass.) tallied a three-point game with two goals and an assist, while junior CJ Blaszka (Brookfield, Conn.) added two goals and senior Bryan Sullivan (Burlington, Mass.) dished out three assists as the Saint Anselm College men's hockey team erupted for a 6-2 victory in dual-Northeast-10 Conference and New England Hockey Conference matchup Saturday at Cairns Arena.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Both of Meads' goals Saturday night came on power plays, as all five of his season goals have come on special teams this season—four on power plays one short-handed.
• Blaszka moved into second place on the team with four goals on the season, thanks to two goals Saturday.
• Sullivan's three assists jump up his season tally to six, tying Meads with seven total points this season. He, Blaszka and senior Tyler Estee (Bow, N.H.) were all also +2 in efficiency.
• Junior Nick Leonard (Methuen, Mass.) and freshman Patrick Horrocks (Braintree, Mass.) both also added a goal and an assist for a two-point day, improving season totals to five points and three points, respectively.
• Juniors Brendon Kerrigan (Boston, Mass.) and Peter Sikalis (Acton, Mass.) and freshman Jeremy Carignan (Amos, Que.) all picked up an assist, rounding out eight different Hawks to tally a point on the night.
• Sophomore Shane Joyce (Pembroke, Mass.) tallied a game-high 32 saves, improving to 3-2 on the year.
For the Purple Knights…
• Kevin Altidor recorded a goal and an assist while Sam D'Antuono also scored for Saint Michaels.
• Michael Comitini fell to 0-2 on the season while recording 28 saves.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Lots of penalties and lots of shots let to lots of scoring opportunities in Saturday's rematch of the 2015 NE-10 Championship game, with Saint Anselm's Horrocks and Meads scoring rebounds within three minutes of one another on two separate Saint Michael's penalties late in the first period. Horrocks flipped the puck over Comitini's pads off of Sullivan's shot that was initially saved, and Meads did the same off another saved Sullivan shot.
• Leonard, who had assisted on Meads' first half tally, put away a 4-on-4 goal from Sullivan on a nifty backhander at the 4:41 mark of the second period. Altidor then closed the gap with a snap shot past Joyce just two minutes later and threatened again with a 5-on-3 later in the period, but the Hawks defense, led by three consecutive saves by Joyce, withstood the pressure to preserve the two goal advantage entering the second intermission.
• Meads then pushed the Hawks to 4-1 with yet another man-up opportunity, and Blaszka's unassisted tally made it 5-1 with five minutes remaining in the game. D'Antuono scored at 15:48 before Blazska dumped in an empty-net insurance goal to maintain the four-goal final.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
• Both teams saw plenty of time in the penalty box Saturday evening, as the teams combined for 13 penalties.
• Saint Anselm, which has been masterful on special teams this season, scored on three of its four chances while shutting out the Purple Knights on its six opportunities.
• Both teams got off 34 shots for the game while Saint Anselm held a slim 38-37 advantage on faceoffs.
NOTES
• Saint Anselm improves to 16-9-3 overall against Saint Michael's and has won three straight dating back to last season.
• The win serves dual-purpose for league standings, as the Hawks pick up two points in NEHC standings and three points for the single designated NE-10 matchup this season.
UP NEXT
• Saint Anselm will continue its November road swing with a non-conference matchup at Wentworth College Saturday, November 21. The Hawks return to Sullivan Arena Tuesday, November 24 as they host crosstown and Queen City Cup rival Southern New Hampshire University in a 7 p.m. showdown.
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