Year in Review: 2021 in Saint Anselm Athletics

Softball wins the program's second NCAA regional title

The Saint Anselm softball team captured its second NCAA Division II East Region Championship in May, earning one of the eight spots in the National Championship from Denver, Colo. The Hawks finished the 2021 season with a 33-7 record overall and a 21-3 mark in NE10 play.

The nationally-ranked Hawks earned a spot in the NCAA postseason for the third-consecutive season. The team set a program record for earned run average (1.01) and shutouts (19) and the squad's 33 wins are tied for third most all-time.

Morgan Perry '21 won Schutt Sports/NFCA Pitcher of the Year, the D2CCA Ron Lenz National Pitcher of the Year honors, the D2CCA East Region Pitcher of the Year, and was named to NFCA First Team All-America and First Team All-Region.

>> Full Story

Bascle joins the men's soccer team through the Make-a-Wish Foundation

Liam Bascle, a seven-year old from Bedford, N.H., signed a National Letter of Intent with the men's soccer team in August. Bascle, who was diagnosed with malignant neoplasm of the brain, grew to love the game of soccer through his father.

With the help of Head Coach Bruno Victal, the Hawks and the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Bascle was able to tour the Hawks locker room and score a goal at Melucci Field, the home of the Saint Anselm soccer programs.

Hundreds of Anselmians also came out to welcome Liam to the team, and most importantly, to the Saint Anselm community.

>> Video

Women's ice hockey knocks off Maine, Dartmouth and Brown

The women's ice hockey team captured a 3-2 victory over the University of Maine in the team's season opening win, the team's first against exclusively National Collegiate-level competition.

On the season, Saint Anselm has netted wins over three conferences at the National Collegiate level, including Hockey East, New England Women's Hockey Alliance, and ECAC Hockey. 

After the season-opening win over Maine, Saint Anselm has grabbed wins over NEWHA foes Franklin Pierce and Post before back-to-back victories against Dartmouth and Brown, who call ECAC Hockey home, to close out the calendar year.

Additionally, four of the Hawks non-conference opponents this season have been in the USCHO.com National Top-10 rankings (Northeastern, Quinnipiac, Yale, Harvard). 

>> Full Story

Women's soccer earns first trip to the NCAA postseason

A historic season for the women's soccer program saw the team earn its first NCAA Tournament berth and its first conference playoff win since 2006. The squad finished as just the ninth team in program history to reach the 10-win mark and recorded one of the longest shutout streaks the program has seen.

The team reached as high as the fourth spot in the United Soccer Coaches East Region rankings and were inside the top 10 since the third week of the season. The Hawks closed the season with a 10-6-2 record overall and a 7-5-1 mark in NE10 play.

Six members of the program collected postseason awards including NE10 All-Conference, United Soccer Coaches All-East Region, and New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association All-New England teams.

>> Full Story

Men's ice hockey dedicates season to Dan Kelly '86

Saint Anselm dedicated its 2021-22 men's ice hockey season to Dan Kelly ‘86. 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.

Kelly, a recently-retired Lieutenant from the Arlington (Mass.) Police Department, has been courageously battling cancer over the last few years. Despite his illness, a demanding job as a public servant and unwavering love and commitment to his beloved family, Kelly never lost his passion for the game.

The 2021-22 men's ice hockey team captured a 3-2 victory over Stonehill on Nov. 13, improving to 4-0-1 which marked the best start to the season since the 2007-08 squad was 2-0-3 through its first five games.

>> Full Story

Saint Anselm adds women's golf and women's bowling

Saint Anselm announced the addition of the women's golf program in August, representing the 18th varsity sport offering at the college. Tara Watt was selected to lead the Hawks in their inaugural season of play, which is expected to hit the course in 2022-23.

In December, alumnus Tim Frye ‘11 was selected to lead the 19th varsity sport offered at Saint Anselm, women's bowling. The program joins the East Coast Conference, which now sits at 14 members that sponsor the sport. The team will also begin competition in the 2022-23 academic year.

The women's golf program will practice and host tournaments from the Derryfield Country Club home while the women's bowling program will train and compete out of Yankee Lanes, both in Manchester.

>>Women's Golf News
>>Women's Bowling News

Saint Anselm receives its fifth Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence

The Hawks were one of 43 NCAA Division II institutions to claim the Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence. To be eligible, institutions need to have an Academic Success Rate of 90% or greater.

Saint Anselm collected the award for the fifth time and posted an institutional record of 94%. Saint Anselm ranked fourth in both federal graduation rate (81%) and academic success rate (94%), when compared to other Northeast-10 Conference colleges and universities. Nationally, the Hawks were 13th in federal graduation rate.

The institution's record-setting academic success rate was helped by perfect scores of 100% from men's golf, women's basketball, field hockey, women's lacrosse, softball and women's cross country. Out of the 16 varsity sports programs eligible for the report, 14 of those had an ASR over 90%. 

>> Full Story