OSWEGO, N.Y. – Sophomore Mark Blaney (Braintree, Mass.) of the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team scored the game-winning overtime goal, sending the Hawks to a 4-3 victory over Williams College to conclude the Oswego State Hockey Classic.
With the victory in the Third Place game over the Ephs, Saint Anselm improves to 9-4-1 overall on the season. Williams, who was outshot 32-to-25 by the Hawks in defeat, drops to 3-7-0 on the year following the defeat.
Just 2:04 into overtime with the game tied following a scoreless third period, Blaney picked the top corner on Williams netminder Alex Cardonick for the game-winning marker. Blaney has now scored a goal and added an assist in two of his last three games, recording his third multiple-point tilt of the season.
Sophomores Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) and Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) picked up assists on the game-winning play with the latter setting up the wide-open shot for Blaney with a nifty spin move that dished the puck toward the other face-off dot.
On a Saint Anselm power play just minutes into the game, Williams put home the first goal of the game just 3:45 into the tilt. The Hawks responded just minutes later as junior Alec Grace (Laguna Hills, Calif.) brought the game even on assists from senior Jack Murphy (Marshfield, Mass.) and freshman Jack Devine (East Greenwich, R.I.).
Williams carried the 2-1 advantage into the locker room, scoring 3:58 later in a first period where the Hawks fired 15 of the first 20 shots of the game.
The Hawks scored the next two goals as senior Matt Hayes (Salem, N.H.) was set up by Blaney near the midpoint of the second and Devine put home his first collegiate goal just minutes later, creating a 3-2 advantage in the neutral-site game. For Devine, Saturday was just his third collegiate game.
The Ephs scored the equalizer at 13:54 of the second period and the tilt would remain scoreless until Blaney's heroics in extra time.
Senior netminder Nick Howard (Burlington, Mass.) made 22 saves in the game, including a game-high 15 in the second period alone. Cardonick drew the loss for Williams, conceding four goals on 28 shots – he did make 14 saves in the opening stanza for the Ephs.
Saint Anselm hits the road to take on Bowdoin this upcoming Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 5 p.m.
