MANCHESTER, N.H. – The No. 14-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team set a program record on Saturday, winning its ninth consecutive game after cruising to a convincing 21-2 victory over Assumption University at Grappone Stadium.

The Hawks have won nine consecutive contests dating back to last season and own a 6-0 record, both overall and within the Northeast-10 Conference, during the 2021 season. The previous record for consecutive victories, eight, was set from Feb. 27, 2012 to Apr. 10, 2012.

Assumption, receiving votes in the national poll, fall to 0-3 overall and to 0-3 against league opponents. Saint Anselm has fired at least 48 shots in each of its six games this year and has outscored its last three opponents by a combined 70-to-12 margin.

Senior Matt Ward (Shrewsbury, Mass.) put home four goals in the victory, equaling the point production of sophomore Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) via his three-goal, one-assist performance. Ward now owns an 11-game goal scoring streak, logging 34 in that span, and his point-scoring streak is at 17 games. He has scored 46 goals with eight assists for 54 points (46-8=54) since taking the field against Merrimack on Apr. 2, 2019.

A total of 15 student-athletes found their way into the scorebook by posting at least one point of offense on the day. Sophomore Callen Willwerth (Northborough, Mass.) had three goals in the game, setting a career-high mark, and senior Ryan Melley (Reading, Mass.) scored twice and won five-of-six draws, giving him a success rate of .714 (20-of-28) on the year.

For the second time this season, the Hawks held their opponent to a shutout through the first half of play. Saint Anselm erupted for 13 first-half goals while a stout Hawks defense kept the Greyhounds to just one shot in the second quarter, carrying a 40-6 shot advantage into the break.

The Hawks scored six times in the third and twice in the fourth quarter, cracking the 20-goal plateau once again and keeping Assumption to just two strikes. Saint Anselm had only kept its opponent to two or fewer goals on 11 prior occasions, most recently doing so against Post on Mar. 10, 2018.

Senior backstop CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.) won the 10th game of his career on Saturday, making two saves. The tandem of sophomore Will Davis (Franklin, Mass.) and junior Lance Pfeninger-Racine (Dartmouth, Mass.) combined to make four saves. A trio of Assumption netminders conceded 21 goals on 39 shots.

Defensively, Saint Anselm had four student-athletes record two caused turnovers. Sophomore Craig Yannone (Lynnfield, Mass.) continued to perform admirably on face-offs, winning 13-of-19 and picking up a team-leading seven ground balls - he also scored his first collegiate goal in the game. Melley had five ground balls to his credit while senior Griffin Shoemaker (Shirley, Mass.) picked up four along with Thomas Mapstone (Andover, Mass.).

Three of the final four games of the regular season for Saint Anselm will be played on the road, starting with Wednesday's 3:30 p.m. showdown at Saint Michael's.