MANCHESTER, N.H. – Fresh off its first shutout of an NCAA Division II opponent in over 20 years, the Saint Anselm football program looks for its fourth consecutive victory on Saturday, Sept. 24 as it hosts Southern Connecticut State University as part of the College's Family Weekend festivities.

SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS (3-0, 1-0 NE10)
Roster | Schedule & Results | 2022 Statistics | News | Game Notes

SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY OWLS (0-3, 0-1 NE10)
Roster | Schedule & Results | 2022 Statistics | News | Game Notes

Southern Connecticut State enters the game with an 0-3 record, posting an opening-game loss to Shepherd at home before a narrow five-point loss at New Haven, a perennial football power in the Northeast-10 Conference. Last time out, the Owls lost to Pace by 20 points, 27-7.

Admission to Saturday's game is $10, payable by credit card only at the gate. As a reminder to all fans, pets are not allowed within the confines of the Grappone Stadium fencing and field turf access is limited to those with pre-approved credentials only.

NOTABLES

• THAT'S RANK: Saint Anselm owns the second-ranked scoring defense in NCAA Division II, conceding just 5.7 points per game to its opponent. The Hawks also rank third nationally in pass completion percentage (70.2%), fourth in opponent's team passing efficiency (71.46), seventh in red-zone defense (.500), and eighth in both turnover margin (1.67) and turnovers gained (9). The team is also averaging 4.33 sacks/game, the ninth-best figure in the country. Through three games (and if the season ended prior to Saturday's game), the team's pass completion percentage (70.4), pass efficiency (164.9), average yards/pass (7.4), total offense/play (5.92), and yards/kickoff return (23.33) rank first in team history for single-season totals. 
• TOP 10 STANDOUTS: Individually, Saint Anselm has several student-athletes ranked within the top-10 nationally in several statistical categories, including Drew Willoughby - First in passing touchdowns (12), first in points responsible for (72), first in points responsible for per game (24.0), fifth in completions per game (26.33), fifth in completion percentage (69.9%); Anthony Brown - Third in receiving touchdowns (5), ninth in total touchdowns (5); Rio Ferguson - Second in blocked kicks (2); Devin Williams - Second in fumbles recovered (4)
• COMPLETE GAME CLEAN SHEET: Saint Anselm recorded its first shutout victory over an NCAA Division II opponent since 2002 last Saturday, logging a 27-0 win over Franklin Pierce University at Sodexo Field. With a win in the team's Northeast-10 Conference opener, Saint Anselm moves to 3-0 for the first time since the 2014 season and remains the only team in the conference without a loss. Including last season, the Hawks have won five of their last six games. 
• THREE-PEAT: Most recently, Saint Anselm blanked NCAA Division III Plymouth State by a 24-0 score on Sept. 4, 2004. The last shutout against a Division II opponent came against Pace on Oct. 12, 2002 – since the reinstatement of varsity football on the Hilltop in 1999, there have now been three shutouts delivered by Saint Anselm. 
• DIALING UP THE "D": Saint Anselm is one of just 31 teams in NCAA Division II without a loss, thanks in part to a Hawks defense that forced Franklin Pierce into eight punts and turned the Ravens over on downs twice. On the last offensive possession by the home team, a bad snap by the center provided Saint Anselm its first safety since Oct. 27, 2018. Franklin Pierce generated just 128 total yards of offense in the defeat, the second-lowest amount produced by a Hawks opponent in program annals. The stout Saint Anselm defense also held Franklin Pierce to an 0-for-11 performance on third down. Defensively, the Hawks registered 11 total tackles for a loss against the Ravens with a combined deficit of 49 yards. Junior Devin Wood (Merrimack, N.H.) had five solo tackles, finishing with seven total takedowns and matching senior Taylor Pawelkoski (Bradenton, Fla.) with one-and-a-half tackles for a loss. Pawelkoski ranked second on the team with six tackles.
• DON'T OVERLOOK THE OFFENSE: Offensively, junior quarterback Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) was 26-for-38 in the game, throwing for 224 yards and three touchdowns. Three student-athletes logged a touchdown reception and six Hawks racked up over 28 yards through the air. Senior Bobby Long (Bridgewater, Mass.) had three catches for a team-best 49 yards and classmate Vincent Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.) picked up a team-best eight catches, contributing with 105 all-purpose yards. 
• THE "PAT" TRICK: Sophomore Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) had a pair of 40-yard field goals against the Ravens, setting career-long marks in back-to-back boots. Finishing with a 40-yarder and a 41-yarder, he is the first Saint Anselm kicker to have two field goals over 40 yards since Daniel Parisi '19 had two against Stonehill in a triple-overtime thriller on Sept. 8, 2018.
• MILESTONE WATCH: Senior Vincent Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.), who cracked the top-10 list in team history with 758 rushing yards, is just 65 yards away from taking over ninth place from Luke St. Marie. Wagner is averaging 4.31 yards per carry in his career, the sixth-best figure in team history. Senior wideout Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas) enters the game on Saturday with 1,567 receiving yards in his career, ranking sixth all-time, and needs just 52 yards to jump all the way up to fifth in team history in that statistic. Brown also sits in fifth all-time with 15 career touchdown receptions. Brown also has caught a pass in each of his 23 career games at Saint Anselm, matching the most recent long streak by a Hawks student-athlete since Zach Bartak '17 had 23 consecutive games with a reception from Nov. 8, 2014 through Nov. 12, 2016. Only six student-athletes in team history have 24 consecutive games with a reception and none since Justin Bernard '15 and Ahkeen Williams '15 ended their careers in 2014. 

For a more detailed game preview, check out the GAME NOTES for Saturday's game.