MANCHESTER, N.H. – Freshman Jeremy Carignan (Amos, Quebec) scored a pair of goals and junior CJ Blaszka (Brookfield, Conn.) added a goal and an assist as the Saint Anselm College men's hockey team capped off a strong home-opening weekend Saturday night with a 4-2 victory over league foe Skidmore College at Sullivan Arena.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Carignan, who tallied an assist Friday against Castleton, scored his first collegiate goals Saturday to up his season tally to three.
• Blaszka posted his first multi-point game of his career, scoring a goal and an assist in Saturday's win.
• Senior Mark Meads (Middleton, Mass.) added a goal—his third of the year—and junior Brendon Kerrigan (Boston, Mass.) and sophomore Nick Gorski (Sandown, N.H.) each dished out an assist to cap off another balanced Hawk offensive showing.
• Sophomore Shane Joyce (Pembroke, Mass.) improved to 2-0 on the season, recording 21 saves Saturday.
For the Thoroughbreds…
• Adam Moodie and Corey Morgan scored Skidmore's goals, while Oscar Flory took his first loss in goal while recording a game-high 31 saves.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Carignan opened the scoring with a power play goal late in the first period, assisted by Kerrigan and Gorski to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
• Skidmore responded late in the second period, with Moodie lacing a shot past Joyce with less than a minute and a half remaining to take back some momentum into the second break.
• Two minutes into the third period, Blaszka collected a tricky puck along the right boards and buried his first goal in unassisted fashion to retake the lead, 2-1.
• Skidmore's Morgan responded two minutes later, right as the Hawks were about to get hit with a slashing penalty to tie the game at 2-2.
• Just 15 seconds into the Thoroughbreds' 5-on-4 power play, Saint Anselm's Meeds took the puck right off a Skidmore defender's stick, and rocketed home a short-handed score to break the tie for good.
• Blaszka then found Carignan late in the period, catching Flory in no-goalie's-land as he tried to get off the ice in favor of an offensive rush. Yet the Skidmore defenders turned the puck over near mid-ice and Carignan snapped off a deep shot that trickled helplessly past a sprawled Flory.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
• Saint Anselm outshot Skidmore 35-23, including a 13-5 advantage in the second period alone.
• For the second straight game, the Hawks made good on their power play opportunities, going 1-for-4 while shutting out the Thoroughbreds on all five of their chances.
NOTES
• Saint Anselm improves to 11-6-5 against Skidmore all-time.
• The Hawks start 2-0 for the second time in the past three seasons.
UP NEXT
• Saint Anselm will step out of conference play Tuesday evening, hosting Salem State at Sullivan Arena for a 7 p.m. matchup against the Vikings.
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.
