COLCHESTER, Vt. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team travels to the Green Mountain State on Wednesday to take on Saint Michael's College at 3:30 p.m.

Saint Anselm, the No. 14-ranked team in NCAA Division II, has won a program-record nine consecutive games dating back to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. This year, the Hawks own an unblemished 6-0 record with each win coming against a Northeast-10 Conference opponent.

Saint Michael's owns a 3-3 overall record, but is mired in a three-game losing streak. The stretch of losses began with a historic 29-3 loss to Saint Anselm on Apr. 3 in what was the most goals scored in a single game by the Hawks.

Only Saint Michael's students will be admitted to the game held at Duffy Field. Live Stats and Live Video are available, courtesy of the Saint Michael's Athletic Communications office.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM

• Last time out, the Hawks set a program record with their ninth consecutive win after cruising to a convincing 21-2 victory over Assumption University at Grappone Stadium. The previous record for consecutive victories, eight, was set from Feb. 27, 2012 to Apr. 10, 2012. Assumption was receiving votes in the national coaches' poll.
• 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.
• Saint Anselm is one of just four programs in NCAA Division II without a loss, including Le Moyne, Mercy, and Tampa. The Hawks find themselves tied with Seton Hill for the NCAA lead in scoring margin (13.00) and rank fourth nationally in points per game (30.17).
• Senior Matt Ward (Shrewsbury, Mass.) put home four goals in the victory over Assumption, 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 against Assumption 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.
• Leading Assumption by a 13-0 margin at halftime, Saint Anselm has shutout an opponent in the first half twice in 2021. Versus the Greyhounds, 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.
• 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.
• Shoemaker owns a 13-game point streak that dates back to Apr. 16, 2019 at Saint Michael's. He has scored 24 goals with 10 assists for 34 points (24-10=34) and his team is 12-1 across that span of games.
• Andrews has scored at least three goals in each of his six games this season, racking up 21 total goals and three assists for 24 points (21-3=24). This season, he had exactly four goals in his first three games of the season and since then, he has logged exactly three goals and an assist in each of his prior three games.
• Freshman Nick Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) has posted four goals and 12 assists for 16 points (4-12=16) to date while twin brother Noah Larsen (Northborough, Mass. has chipped in with eight goals and six assists for 14 points (8-6=14).
• Senior CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.) owns the nation's second-best goals against average (5.65), trailing Tampa's Blake Ulmer (5.60). His save percentage of .590 is the eighth-best figure in the country.
• Saint Anselm has posted a 27-12 record since the start of the 2018 season and has made the last four NE10 postseason tournaments.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE KNIGHTS

• The Purple Knights are fifth in this week's New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) poll and own a 3-3 overall record entering Wednesday's game.
• Justin Richmond earned placement on the NE10's Weekly Honor Roll this past week. He won 60.5% of his face-offs last week, averaging 8.5 ground balls per game. He set a school record for career ground balls in the process, ending the week with 219.
• Freshman Nathan Woods leads the Purple Knights with nine goals and seven assists for 16 points (9-7=16). Max Katavolos has scored a team-best 12 goals while adding three assists and 11 ground balls. Four student-athletes are tied for third with 10 points on the season.
• Dominic Joy leads Saint Michael's with a .568 save percentage, making 79 saves across six games to date. Sophomore Brian Sardella has posted 14 ground balls and caused 13 turnovers as a long stick midfielder.
• Head Coach Alex Smith enters his fourth season as the Head Coach at Saint Michael's in 2021. He picked up his 100th career college coaching victory in 2018.

ALL TIME vs. SAINT MICHAEL'S

• Against the Purple Knights, the Hawks are 13-18 in the all-time series.
• Saint Anselm is currently on a five-game winning streak against Saint Michael's, which is also the longest winning streak between the two programs. In the last 10 matches, Saint Anselm holds the 7-3 advantage.
• Since 2002, the Hawks have averaged 9.04 goals per game against its opponents up north in Vermont. Saint Anselm is also 8-2 on home turf against the Purple Knights in the past 19 years.
• Saint Anselm and Saint Michael's have also seen each other on the big stage, battling one another in the NE10 Tournament. The series is tied at 2-2 when in that situation. The last time the Hawks and Purple Knights saw each other in the NE10 Tournament was in the 2012 Quarterfinals, falling 8-4.
• Back in 2009, the Hawks rallied from a 9-7 halftime deficit to upset No. 4 seeded Saint Michael's by a 14-13 final, advancing the Hawks to the semifinals against Le Moyne.