WORCESTER, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team suffered a 4-3 setback to Assumption University on Friday evening.

The Hawks drop to 12-8-1 on the season with a 7-4-1 mark in Northeast-10 Conference play while the Greyhounds improve to 12-8-0 overall and 8-3-0 in conference contests. The teams conclude their four-game regular season series on Saturday, Jan. 21 with a 6:30 opening puck drop from Worcester, Mass.

Senior Andrew Andary (Macomb, Mich.), junior Will Christensen (Ridgefield, Conn.), and sophomore Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) netted one goal each for the Hawks in the contest.

Senior goaltender Nick Howard (Burlington, Mass.) turned aside 41 shots on goal for the Hawks. This was Howard's second game of the 2022-23 campaign with 40 or more saves. The senior made double-digit saves in each of the three periods.

Ronny Paragallo got the scoring started as he fired a one-time shot on the power play into the twine at 4:44 to give the Greyhounds a 1-0 lead.

Andary tied the tilt at one at 14:46 as he cleaned up a rebound following a shot from the point by sophomore Luke Mix (Winchester, Mass.).

Just 1:02 later, sophomore Richie Colarusso (Tewksbury, Mass.) sent a shot on Greyhounds goaltender Drew Benedict which was turned aside. Benedict managed to make a save on a rebound shot by junior Alec Grace (Laguna Hills, Calif.) but Christensen capped off the scoring chance with his fifth goal of the season, giving the Hawks a 2-1 lead through the opening 20.

Brackett extended the Saint Anselm advantage to two at 6:17 of the second period. Strong puck movement in the attacking zone allowed freshman Garrett Alberti (Wilmington, Mass.) to send a cross-crease pass to Brackett who finished the play on the backhand.

Assumption got the scoring back in its favor with a goal by John Woernle at 3:23 of the final regulation period. Woernle netted a rebound chance following a save by Howard.

The Hawks had a great chance to regain their two-goal lead as junior Liam Lyons (Gloucester, Mass.) forced a turnover in the offensive zone and was one-on-one with Benedict. However, Benedict turned aside the scoring opportunity.

The Greyhounds found an equalizer at 14:08 of the third period as Christopher Stalmok beat Howard on the power play, tying the score at three.

William Smith gave Assumption a 4-3 lead with two minutes exactly remaining in regulation. Smith collected a loose puck off the end board snuck a shot into the left side of the goal which would stand as the game-winning tally.

The Greyhounds held a 45-37 advantage in shots on goal and netted two power play goals in six opportunities in the contest. The Hawks were scoreless on five power play chances.