Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content
Jack Andrews

PREVIEW: No. 11 men's lacrosse at Southern N.H.

4/23/2021 10:30:00 PM

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team, ranked No. 11 in NCAA Division II, will conclude the regular season of play on Saturday at Southern New Hampshire University.

The game will begin at 3 p.m. from Penmen Stadium. The Hawks own a 12-game winning streak entering play and will look to secure a share of the Northeast-10 Conference Regular Season Championship with a victory over Southern New Hampshire. Saint Anselm has never won a regular-season conference title in its 28 year team history.

The Hawks have won each of their nine games of the 2021 season and remain just one of four teams in NCAA Division II without a loss. Le Moyne has a matching 9-0 record with their regular season slate completed – a win by Saint Anselm will lock down the No. 1 seed in the NE10 Championships and a loss will award the top seed to Le Moyne (via winning percentage) heading into the postseason.

The Penmen, ranked third in New England, have won two consecutive games and feature a 5-4 overall and conference record. Saint Anselm has defeated Southern New Hampshire in two prior meetings, accounting for half of the Penmen losses, and will look to win six in a row against its Queen City rival.

Live Statistics and Live Video will be provided by Southern New Hampshire University. No spectators will be permitted entry into Penmen Stadium.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM

  • Against Assumption on Saturday, Apr. 10, the Hawks set a program record with their ninth consecutive win. 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. The winning streak currently stands at 12 games.
  • The Hawks remain one of just four NCAA Division II programs without a loss. Le Moyne (9-0) is the lone team in NE10 play to compete without a loss to date. Tampa (6-0) and Mercy (N.Y.) (7-0) round out the ranks of the undefeated.
  • Saint Anselm ranks first in NCAA Division II in scoring defense (5.33) and ranks second in ground balls per game (45.22) and scoring margin (13.11). The Hawks rank fifth nationally in scoring offense (18.44) and points per game (29.11).
  • Senior backstop CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.), recently named NE10 Goaltender of the Week and to the USILA Division II Team of the Week, leads the nation in goals-against average (4.94). His save percentage (0.649) ranks first in the country as well.
  • Sophomore Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) has eight man-up goals, ranking third in NCAA Division II. He has matched the Saint Anselm single-season record of eight, first achieved by Ryan Mee '14 as a junior in 2013. He is also the only student-athlete at Saint Anselm to have 30 or more points in 2021.
  • Sophomore Jack Robinson (Wilbraham, Mass.) joined Hart on the USILA Division II Team of the Week on Tuesday. Robinson scored six goals with four assists for 10 points (6-4=10), reeling in 10 ground balls prior to Wednesday's win at American International. He posted exactly three goals and two assists in each game, but picked up a career-high nine ground balls against the Purple Knights on the road.
  • In just 12 games on the Hilltop, Robinson has scored 17 goals with 17 assists for 34 points (17-17=34) and has collected 37 ground balls in that limited time. This season, he ranks 10th in the NE10 in assists per game (1.22).
  • Senior Matt Ward (Shrewsbury, Mass.) owns a 14-game goal scoring streak, logging 40 in that span, and his point-scoring streak is at 20 games. He has scored 56 goals with 11 assists for 67 points (56-11=67) since taking the field against Merrimack on Apr. 2, 2019. Ward is one goal away from becoming the sixth student-athlete in team history to score 100 career goals.
  • Leading Assumption by a 13-0 margin at halftime in its game on Apr. 10, Saint Anselm has shutout an opponent in the first half twice in 2021. The Hawks had previously led Saint Michael's by a 15-0 margin at the break on Apr. 3.
  • Saint Anselm has posted a 30-12 record since the start of the 2018 season and has made the last four NE10 postseason tournaments. Among active NCAA Division II head coaches, Michael Sciamanna is 15th with a winning percentage of .657 and has won 46 of his 70 career games.

SCOUTING THE PENMEN

  • Southern New Hampshire is 3-1 when playing at home in Penmen Stadium. The Penmen are just 2-3 when competing away from its Hooksett, N.H. stadium.
  • SNHU has picked up at least 50 ground balls in four of its nine games this season, recently securing 55 against American International on Saturday and a season-high mark of 58 against Saint Michael's on Wednesday.
  • David Wiedenfeld has a team-leading 33 points via 14 goals and 19 assists (14-19=33). Against the Hawks, he has been held to just two goals and five points. Chris Valentine, the team's second-leading scorer, has just one goal and three assists against Saint Anselm across the two match-ups.
  • Gennaro Marra has won 141-of-238 (.592) face-offs for Southern New Hampshire, leading the way with 79 ground balls on the year.
  • Cam Cote, a freshman, has 17 caused turnovers to lead the Penmen. He also has reeled in 45 ground balls across nine games. He has also started each of his first nine career games with Southern New Hampshire.

ALL-TIME vs. SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE

  • Saint Anselm has won 18 of the first 28 meetings against Southern New Hampshire dating back to the program's inception in 1994.
  • The Hawks own a five-game winning streak over SNHU, scoring at least 15 goals in each of those tilts. The Penmen have reached 10 goals just once, doing so in this season's 17-10 loss at Penmen Stadium.
  • Out of the 10 losses by Saint Anselm against the Penmen, just three (the first three meetings in team history) have been by double digits and the rest have been decided by five or fewer goals.
  • In the win against the Penmen in late March, Ward led the way with five goals, posting a career-high three caused turnovers on defense in a well-rounded effort. Andrews contributed with four goals off the bench and senior Griffin Shoemaker (Shirley, Mass.) was responsible for two goals and two assists.
  • Competing against the Penmen on Apr. 7, the Hawks eased their way to a 20-7 win. Shoemaker scored four goals and added two assists for a team-leading six points (4-2=6). Senior Ryan Richards (Mendon, Mass.) posted two goals and three assists for five points (2-3=5) and Andrews was responsible for three goals and an assist for four points (3-1=4).
Print Friendly Version