MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team used a strong start to Saturday's Pink in the Rink contest to power them to a 5-2 win over Assumption University.

The Hawks improve to 4-2-0 on the season and to 3-2-0 in Northeast-10 Conference play while the Greyhounds drop to 3-3-0 overall and 2-2-0 in conference play. Saint Anselm is back in action on Friday, Nov. 18 in the first of a pair of weekend road games at Saint Michael's College. Friday's tilt is slated for 7 p.m. from South Burlington, Vt.

Saint Anselm honored Julie Colarusso, mother of sophomore Richie Colarusso (Tewksbury, Mass.) with a ceremonial puck drop prior to the start of Saturday's contest. This weekend marked the 12th annual Pink in the Rink celebration as the men's and women's ice hockey programs raise awareness for breast cancer.

Junior Tommy Schwartz (Ridgefield, Conn.) potted a pair of goals in the contest while classmate Alec Grace (Laguna Hills, Calif.) and sophomores Mark Blaney (Braintree, Mass.) and Chase Reynolds (Middletown, Conn.) netted one goal apiece.

Sophomore goaltender Trevor Lally (Arlington, Mass.) posted a 39-save performance in his first action of the season and his second career start. The win for Lally is also the first of his collegiate career.

Grace got the Hawks on the board just 1:46 into the first period when he snapped home a shot off a feed from sophomore Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Brackett got the play started with a turnover below the goal line and found Grace in the slot for the one-time goal.

The Hawks doubled their lead at 7:00 of the opening stanza when Blaney managed to keep the puck in the Saint Anselm attacking end and worked a give-and-go with Reynolds. Blaney collected the go pass and put the puck in the upper half of the goal to give Saint Anselm a 2-0 lead.

Schwartz extended the Hawks lead to three when he redirected a cross-ice pass from senior Matt Hayes (Salem, N.H.) on the power play at 6:29 of the second frame.

Saint Anselm took a 4-0 lead when Reynolds deflected a wrist shot from junior Luke Mix (Winchester, Mass.) at 15:02 of the second period.

The Greyhounds would register a pair of goals in the third period as Thomas McGaffigan redirected a point shot from John Woernle to get the visitors on the board at 6:52 before Colin Philippon beat Lally on the doorstep following a defensive zone turnover for the Hawks at 15:51.

In search of a pair of goals, the Greyhounds were forced to opt for the extra skater and Schwartz was able to find the back of the net for the empty-net goal and his second of the game with 1:26 left to play.

Assumption earned seven power play chances in the contest but could not convert with the extra skater while the Hawks were one-for-two on the power play.

After being outshot in the first period, the Greyhounds held 16-10 and 17-7 advantages in shots on goal in the second and third periods as they put 41 shots on goal to 27 for Saint Anselm in the contest.

Lally turned aside 39 shots on goal in the win, including all 16 he faced in the second period alone. Thomas McLarnon suffered the loss for the Greyhounds as he made 16 saves while Drew Benedict stopped all six shots he faced in relief.