MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team concluded its fall semester with a 3-0 shutout win over crosstown rival Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday.

With the win, the Hawks move to 8-3-1 on the season with a 5-3-1 record in Northeast-10 Conference play while the Penmen drop to 5-8-0 overall and 4-5-0 in conference games. Saint Anselm is off until Friday, Dec. 30 when they head to SUNY Oswego for its opening game of the SUNY Oswego Tournament, slated for a 7 p.m. opening puck drop.

Sophomores Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) and Mark Blaney (Braintree, Mass.) netted one goal and added one assist each for two points in the contest. Junior Tommy Schwartz (Ridgefield, Conn.) scored his fifth goal of the season in the tilt while senior Andrew Andary (Macomb, Mich.) had one assist for the Hawks.

The Hawks were issued a five-minute major penalty at 6:44 of the first period which sent the Penmen to the power play. They would put seven shots on goal with the extra skater and had one shot, from James Nash, hit the crossbar and stay out of the net.

Senior Matt Hayes (Salem, N.H.) had a shot ring off the post on the power play but that would lead to the opening goal of the contest. Schwartz buried a loose puck on the doorstep at 15:16 of the opening frame. Andary sent the puck the front of the goal where it would deflect off Burum and to Schwartz for the opening marker.

Saint Anselm doubled its lead at the 2:00 mark of the second stanza. Blaney forced a turnover at the attacking blue line and sent a cross-ice pass for Burum who one-timed home the play from the top of the slot for his third goal of the season.

The Penmen put 16 shots on goal in the second period alone and senior goaltender Nick Howard (Burlington, Mass.) turned aside all 16, pushing him to 28 stops through 40 minutes of play.

Sophomore Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) nearly gave the Hawks a 3-0 lead late in the third period as he fired a shot that was saved by Adam Mercer but the deflection would go off the post to keep the score at 2-0.

With time winding down in regulation and needing two goals, the Penmen opted to pull Mercer and put an extra skater on the ice leaving the net empty. However, Blaney would seal the game for the Hawks with a near length of the ice goal at 19:41, pushing the scored to its final of 3-0.

Both sides had four power play chances in the contest. Saint Anselm managed to net one goal with the extra skater while Southern New Hampshire was scoreless. The Hawks also held a 35-27 edge in faceoffs with senior Matt Hayes (Salem, N.H.) leading the way with 15 wins.

Howard made 37 saves in the shutout win while Mercer stopped 37 of the 39 shots he was in the goal for.