MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team soared to a 5-2 win over Long Island University in New England Women's Hockey Alliance play on Saturday.

The Hawks improve to 7-10-2 overall and 4-4-2 in NEWHA play. The Sharks suffer their first loss in conference play, falling to 10-1-1 against conference opponents. They go to 12-10-2 on the season. Saint Anselm is back in action on Friday, Jan. 21 and Saturday, Jan. 22 at Saint Michael's College.

Saint Anselm had five goal scorers in the game as sophomore Claire Weber (Marshfield, Mass.), freshman Audrey Jackson (Shoreview, Minn.), junior Gabrielle Huson (Edina, Minn.), senior Kelly Golini (Tewksbury, Mass.), and freshman Madi Ressler (Brighton, Mich.) all found the back of the net for the Hawks. 11 student-athletes registered a point in the win.

Weber got the Hawks on the board just 46 seconds into the contest as sophomore Maddy McCaffery (Weymouth, Mass.) forced a turnover in the attacking zone and found Weber who fired a shot from below the left faceoff circle. Her shot trickled in behind Sharks starting goaltender Molly Meyers, giving the Hawks a 1-0 lead.

At 10:40 of the period, Jackson netted her third goal of the season after making a strong between the legs deke to gain clearance from the defense and then made a quick move to her forehand to cap off the scoring chance and double the Hawks lead.

Sarah Rourke cut the Hawks advantage to one when she collected a cross-ice pass from Jeannie Wallner. Rourke wristed a shot from the top of the slot into the top left of the goal, needing just 46 seconds of the second period to find the scoreboard.

Huson found the back of the net at 11:08 of the second stanza, giving Saint Anselm a 3-1 lead when she buried a rebound chance off of shot attempts by senior Erin Meyers (Saint Paul, Minn.) and freshman
Tyra Turner (Andover, Minn.).

Saint Anselm extended its lead to 4-1 at 18:01 of the second frame as Golini fired a wrist shot on Ceilidh Campbell. The shot attempt from the top of the slot beat the goaltender through the five-hole.

Ressler found her second goal of the season at 4:02 of the third period when she fired a right from the right hash marks. Campbell got some of the shot attempt but not enough as the puck slid just over the goal line.

The Sharks responded 1:05 later when Megan Bouveur rifled a shot into the top right corner, pushing the score to 5-2. LIU fired 21 shots on goal in the third period, searching for goals in order to draw closer but the Hawks defense and junior goaltender Allie Kelley (East Berne, N.Y.) were up to the task as Saint Anselm handed the Sharks their first loss in conference play.

Kelley made 47 saves on 49 shots on goal in the win. The junior made double digit saves in all three periods including 20 in the final frame. Meyers suffered the loss, stopping 11 of 14 shots on goal in just over 31 minutes of work. Campbell came on in relief and made three saves.