MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College field hockey team, ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division II, will host American International College this Saturday, Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. Just two days later, Saint Anselm will play Southern New Hampshire University under the lights at Grappone Stadium.

Saint Anselm enters the two-game home stand with a 10-3 overall record and is ranked eighth in the country by the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association. American International comes to Saint Anselm with a 5-8 record and a 3-6 mark against Northeast-10 Conference opponents.

Southern New Hampshire begins play this weekend with a 2-8 record and will take on Southern Connecticut State on Saturday at high noon. Monday's 6 p.m. showdown with the Hawks will be played as a non-conference fixture.

The Hawks will honor and recognize their seven senior student-athletes prior to Saturday's game with the Yellow Jackets.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM

• As of Oct. 13, Saint Anselm ranks second nationally in shutouts per game (0.38), fifth in scoring margin (1.82), fifth in shot percentage (0.185), sixth in goals-against average (0.99), seventh in save percentage (0.812) and 10th in goals per game (2.62).
• Senior Carly LaCasse (Sagamore Beach, Mass.) scored two goals for Saint Anselm on Wednesday, helping the to a 5-0 shutout victory over the Ravens at Sodexo Field. The shutout was the sixth of the season for the Hawks and the third consecutive clean sheet turned in by Saint Anselm.
• The Hawks have not conceded a goal across the prior 181:49 of game play dating back to Oct. 4 against Adelphi. Saint Anselm set an NCAA Division II record in 2019 with 20 shutouts, making it all the way to the National Championship game against West Chester with solid all-around defensive play.
• With the two tallies at Franklin Pierce, LaCasse moves into fifth place on the Saint Anselm all-time point scoring list, having scored 27 goals and eight assists for 62 career points (27-8=62), passing Michelle Lemelin '20 and her 60 career points from 2016-19. Her 27 goals is fourth all-time in team annals.
• Against Franklin Pierce, the Hawks fired 25 shots – including the game against the Ravens on Sept. 4, the Hawks have fired their top two season-high totals in shots against Franklin Pierce (27, 25).
• Sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie McConnell (Concord Township, Maine) leads all NCAA Division II student-athletes in goals-against average (0.62) and save percentage (0.878). She has all six of her team's shutouts and has blanked the opposition in five of her last six games played.

YELLOW JACKETS FACTS

• Opening up a 4-1 record to begin the season, the Yellow Jackets have lost six consecutive games to drop their overall record to 5-8. American International has scored just one goal across the team's six-game losing skid.
• AIC has produced just 13 shots on offense in its last three games while the team's opponents have logged 62 shots.
• Michaela Vail is ranked third in the country with four defensive saves to date. She leads all NE10 student-athletes in that metric.
• Na'Bree Wallace has posted four goals and an assist for a team-leading nine points (4-1=9). Shannon Cormier has posted eight points of offense, scoring three goals and two assists (3-2=8).
• Jessica Stone is 11th in the nation with 7.55 saves per game, on average.

PREVIEWING THE PENMEN

• The Penmen entered the 2021 season after logging a 17-5 record in 2019, winning 12 out of its 14 league games that season. After dropping a season-opening game to No. 10 Limestone by a 3-2 margin, Southern New Hampshire fired off six consecutive wins to overcome the first loss of the year.
• Two of the team's five losses in 2019 came at the hands of Saint Anselm, including one in the NE10 Championship game on Sunday, Nov. 10.
• As of Friday, Annemartine Christis leads the Penmen with six goals and one assist for 13 points (6-1=13). Emily Campbell has tallied three goals and leads the way with six assists for 12 points (3-6=12).
• Kate Pigsley has played all 600-plus minutes for the Penmen in net, logging a 3.37 goals-against average and a .694 save percentage.

ALL-TIME vs. AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL

• The Hawks enjoy a 17-8 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 2001, the first year of varsity-level field hockey on the Hilltop.
• Saint Anselm has won each of the last five games against AIC, conceding just one goal across that winning streak. The Hawks have racked up 23 goals in that span.
• When playing at Saint Anselm, the Hawks own a 10-3 record over the Yellow Jackets. Since the installation of artificial turf in 2011, Saint Anselm is 5-1.

• Saint Anselm has won each of the 12 all-time meetings between both programs. Southern New Hampshire revived its dormant field hockey program prior to the 2014-15 academic year under the care of Head Coach Julie Munson.
• The Hawks have outscored SNHU by a combined 34-to-9 margin since the first meeting on Oct. 25, 2014, a 5-0 victory for Saint Anselm.
• Saint Anselm won its first NE10 postseason title in 2019, defeating nationally-ranked Southern New Hampshire at Grappone Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 10.