MANCHESTER, N.H. – In front of a packed house at Sullivan Arena, the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team skated to a 3-2 victory over Stonehill College on Saturday.
Following a pre-game ceremony where the 2021-22 men's ice hockey season was dedicated to Dan Kelly '86, the Hawks improved to 4-0-1 on the year and to 1-0-1 in the Northeast-10 Conference with a one-goal victory over the Skyhawks. Stonehill falls to 2-3-1 overall on the year and to 2-1-1 in league play.
Kelly, a recently-retired Lieutenant from the Arlington (Mass.) Police Department, has been courageously battling cancer over the last few years. A four-year member of the Hawks roster from 1982-86, the season was officially dedicated to him by College President Dr. Joseph A. Favazza in a pre-game ceremony.
Speakers in the pre-game ceremony included Abbot Mark Cooper, O.S.B. '71, H.D. '04, Hubie McDonough '86, Rich Evans '87, Kevin Kervick '86 and Dr. Favazza. The event was emceed by Director of Athletics Daron Montgomery, who was joined on the ice by Kelly and his wife, Kelley.
Saint Anselm is unbeaten through its first five games and is off to its finest start since the 2007-08 campaign where the Hawks opened with a 2-0-3 overall record. The Hawks have not won four of their first five games since the 2004-05 campaign.
Seven Hawks logged one point in the victory as each team fired 30 shots on net, but Saint Anselm came out on top thanks to three even-strength goals. The hosts also used a quick start to establish its offense in the win as senior Kilian Hammersmith (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) scored just 26 seconds into the game, taking a diagonal pass from behind the net and firing it into the open net.
Saint Anselm grew its lead to two goals only 3:50 into the second period. Senior Kevin Ouellette (Arlington, Mass.) skated hard toward the left post and the rebound off a shot from the point found his stick – he flicked the puck home and found the five-hole of Stonehill netminder John Day to put his team up by a 2-0 score.
Stonehill halved the Hawks advantage late in the second period, scoring shortly into the team's power play. Brendan Nehmer skated toward the left post and faked a cross-crease pass, sniping the top-right of the goal to put the Skyhawks on the board. Teddy McElaney, the son of Hawks captain Ed McElaney '91, picked up an assist on the play.
The Hawks once again established a two-goal cushion, this time scoring with 16 seconds to go in the second period. Sophomore Thomas Schwartz (Ridgefield, Conn.) got out in front on a breakaway and used a simple wrist shot that beat Day glove side for what proved to be the game-winning marker.
On the power play, Stonehill reduced the Saint Anselm lead to just one goal as a wrist shot from the left face-off circle by Charles Page on the power play got past Howard inside the left post to cut the Hawks lead to 3-2.
Saint Anselm withstood an offensive barrage from the Skyhawks in the third period as they fired 21 of the stanza's 29 shots, placing 14 of those on goal. Howard stood tall in net for Saint Anselm, making 13 saves in the final 20 minutes help secure a huge victory.
