Box Score
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Saint Anselm College scored a pair of goals early, but could not hold off #5/9 UMass Boston as the Beacons defeated the Hawks 6-4 on Friday night in New England Hockey Conference action at the Sullivan Arena in Manchester, N.H.
The Hawks fall to 6-4-1 and 4-3-1 in the NEHC, while UMass Boston improves to 11-2-1 and an unblemished 7-0-0 in league games.
Saint Anselm struck first in the opening seconds of the game as CJ Blaszka (Brookfield, Conn.) won a face-off in the Beacons end and got the puck out to Peter Sikalis (Acton, Mass.). Sikalis took a shot on net that was blocked down, but the puck came back out to him and he fired another shot from a better angle. This time the puck made its way through the UMass Boston defense and Brendon Kerrigan (Boston, Mass.) was able to tip home the blast to put the Hawks on top 1-0.
Saint Anselm took a two goal advantage 13 minutes later as Mark Meads (Middleton, Mass.) intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and entered the UMass Boston end with speed. The senior fired a laser from the point that tucked inside the crossbar for Meads' ninth goal of the year.
UMass Boston got one back before the end of the first as Bryan Carter netted his first career tally to make it a 2-1 game at the end of one period of play.
The Beacons carried the momentum into the second period as UMass Boston scored four times in the stanza to take a commanding 5-1 lead at the end of two periods. Garrison Sanipass, Colin Larkin, Mike Miller, and Mike Thomson each scored for the visitors, with Matt Lemire picking up a pair of assists.
UMass Boston added one more three minutes into the third period off the stick of Zach Lindsay to take a 6-2 advantage.
With their backs against the wall, the Hawks clawed their way back into the game starting with CJ Blaszka's eighth goal of the season. Blaszka again won a face-off, this time on the power play, and played the puck back to Nick Leonard (Methuen, Mass.). Leonard moved the puck to Sikalis who misfired on a shot, but the puck trickled to Blaszka right in front and the junior buried a shot top shelf to make it a 6-3 game.
Meads made the game interesting just over eight minutes later with his second tally of the game, burying another shot top shelf off assists from Jeremy Carginan (Amos, Quebec) and Bryan Sullivan (Burlington, Mass.), to cut the deficit to only two goals. The Hawks went the final three minutes of action with an empty net, but could not get any closer as the Beacons held on for the 6-4 win.
Shane Joyce (Pembroke, Mass.) stopped 18-of-22 shots faced through the first 26:44 of the game. Colin Soucy (North Andover, Mass.) played the rest of the way, stopping 7-of-9 shots he faced, and suffered the setback. Zach Andrews played the final two periods for UMass Boston and stopped 15-of-17 shots to pick up the victory.
UMass Boston outshot the Hawks at a 31-26 clip and each team converted only one power play on the night.
Saint Anselm returns to action tomorrow afternoon with in a 4:00 p.m. meeting with #4 Babson College in an NEHC matchup.
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