COLCHESTER, Vt. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team remained undefeated on the 2021 season after picking up an 18-3 victory over Saint Michael's College on Wednesday afternoon.

The Hawks, 14th-ranked team in the NCAA Division II according to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA), increase their winning streak to 10 consecutive dating to last season and own a 7-0 record. The Purple Knights fall to 3-4 on the season, both overall and within the Northeast-10 Conference.

After leading 2-1 midway through the first quarter, the Hawks would put the gas on and score 12 unanswered goals to push away from the Purple Knights and clinch the road victory. Sophomore Jack Robinson (Wilbraham, Mass.) and sophomore Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) each led the points production for the Hawks by recording five points with Andrews totaling four goals. Senior Matt Ward (Shrewsbury, Mass.) earned a hat-trick in the victory along with assisting on one goal.

12 Hawks student-athletes each recorded a single point in the victory with five having three or more. Senior Ryan Richards (Mendon, Mass.) also earned two goals and one assist for three points. His teammate, freshman Nick Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) had a goal and a team-high three assists. Sophomore Craig Yannone (Lynnfield, Mass.) won 16-of-21 draws, giving him a success rate of .639 (101-to-159) on the year.

For the fifth time this season, the Hawks held their opponents to two or less goals through the first half of play. Saint Anselm scored for six first-half goals with two coming from Andrews while a strout Hawks defense kept the Purple Knights to just four shots in the second quarter, carrying a 24-13 shots advantage into the break.

The Hawks came out of the halftime break, looking to extend their lead and did so, netting eight scores in the third quarter. The Hawks defense also stepped up by allowing only 10 shots on goal in the first three quarters.

Saint Michael's opened the fourth quarter with its second goal of the game on a man-up opportunity off the stick of Max Katavolos. The Hawks would cruise to the victory, scoring four goals in the final 15 minutes and keeping the Purple Knights to just three strikes on the day.

Senior backstop CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.) won the 11th game of his career on Wednesday, making nine saves. Junior Lance Pfeninger-Racine (Dartmouth, Mass.) closed out the final quarter with three saves, yielding one goal.

Defensively, Ward and junior Kyle Fisher (Nashua, N.H.) each caused a team-high two turnovers. Robinson led the Hawks defense with nine ground balls with senior Griffin Shoemaker (Shirley, Mass.) and Yannone picking up seven.

The Hawks will return to Grappone Stadium for the final time in the regular season on Saturday, Apr. 17 at 1 p.m. as the squad hosts Franklin Pierce.