MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team cruised to a convincing 8-2 victory over visiting Franklin Pierce University on Friday at Sullivan Arena.
Scoring eight goals for the first time since Dec. 2, 2016, Saint Anselm improves to 11-6-1 overall on the season and to 7-3-1 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. Franklin Pierce (8-9-0, 5-4-0 NE10) has now lost four in a row dating back to early December.
The Hawks put home the most goals against a conference team since Nov. 30, 2011, an 11-1 victory over Assumption. Saint Anselm also compiled 22 points of total offense, the most since scoring 11 goals with 20 assists for 31 points (11-20=31) in the aforementioned game against the Greyhounds.
13 student-athletes recorded at least one point for the Hawks as senior Andrew Andary (Macomb, Mich.) led the charge with two goals and an assist for three points (2-1=3). Freshman John Myers (White Plains, N.Y.) handed out three assists in the winning effort and classmate Garrett Alberti (Wilmington, Mass.) produced his first collegiate marker and added two helpers (1-2=3).
Junior Will Christensen (Ridgefield, Conn.) scored twice with classmate Leonard Brochu III (Concord, N.H.), senior Mark Leach (Londonderry, N.H.) and junior Tommy Schwartz (Ridgefield, Conn.) rounding out the goal scorers. Sophomore Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) helped the Hawks to victory with 13 face-off victories on 17 opportunities and Brochu had a team-best three blocked shots.
Saint Anselm jumped ahead by a 2-0 margin just 10:11 into the game as Christensen and Andary struck early for the home team. Franklin Pierce scored twice in the opening period, sandwiching Alberti's first career marker to create the 3-2 advantage for the Hawks after 20 minutes.
It was all Saint Anselm from there as the Hawks scored three times in the second and twice more in the third. The Ravens held the edge in shots on goal through two periods, 30-to-24, before the Hawks drew even at 34-34 by firing 10 of the final 14 in the third stanza.
Senior Nick Howard (Burlington, Mass.) stood tall for the Hawks in net, allowing just two goals on 34 shots in the victory. Brogan McDonald halted 26 of 34 shots in defeat for Franklin Pierce, who came into the game averaging the second-most goals per contest in the NE10.
Saint Anselm welcomes former NE10-rival Stonehill to town on Saturday, Jan. 14 for a 4 p.m. showdown. The Skyhawks are in their first season skating as an NCAA Division I independent program.
