MANCHESTER, N.H. – In a wild, back-and-forth battle on Friday evening, the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team fell to Saint Michael's College in overtime, 4-3.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm once again hosts Saint Michael's on Saturday, November 18 from the Sullivan Arena, concluding the two-game series with the Purple Knights at 6:00 p.m.
Score: Saint Anselm 3, Saint Michael's 4
Records: Saint Anselm 1-6-1 (1-3-1 NE10), Saint Michael's 6-1-0 (4-1-0 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Thomas F. Sullivan Arena)
Date: Friday, November 17, 2023
Attendance: 318
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The first period consisted of a plethora of attacking opportunities despite the opening 20 minutes finishing scoreless. 30 seconds into the contest, freshman goaltender Cam Carroll (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) was forced to make his first save, denying Danny Keegan of the Purple Knights. The Hawks rattled off six of the next eight shot attemps. Five minutes in, senior Hunter Brackett (Harwick Port, Mass.) set himself up for a dangerous look out in front of goal, but was denied twice by Saint Michael's goaltender Marshall Murphy.
- The Purple Knights continued to look threatening in the offensive zone, forcing Carroll to make four more stops in a 90 second span. Just over 10 minutes in, Saint Michael's forward Jack Bavis found a loose puck right in front of goal, but Carroll shut him down on back-to-back shots from close-range.
- Saint Michael's earned their first power play of the game 12:36 into the first period, but could not get their two shots on frame past Carroll either.
- With just over four minutes remaining in the opening stanza, the Hawks earned a power play of their own. Senior Alec Grace (Laguna Hills, Calif.) made a lateral move and got past his defender to create shooting space, but his back-handed effort rattled off the post and bounced away from the net. Saint Michael's outshot Saint Anselm 15-8 in the first period, with both teams going 0-1 on the power play.
- The Purple Knights started the second period on the man-advantage courtesy of a roughing penalty by Brackett with 31 seconds remaining in the first. They earned another man-advantage 2:55 into the second, but could not find the back of the net on either power play despite a combined three shots on goal.
- The short-handed unit for the Hawks came through again midway through the second. Carroll stood tall once more, making four saves during a 13 second stretch to keep the game scoreless. Sophomore Alex Hoitt (East Bridgewater, Mass.) also blocked a shot during the penalty kill.
- Saint Anselm finally broke the scoreless drought with 3:43 to play in the second. Junior Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) dumped the puck into the corner behind the Saint Michael's goal. After fighting along the boards, Burum pushed the puck out to Brackett, who circled back up top and fired a wrist-shot from the blue line. Senior Jac Cordeiro (Barnstable, Mass.) deflected the shot past Marshall and into the back of the net for his first goal of the season to put the Hawks in front, 1-0.
- It did not take the Purple Knights long to answer, however, with Ashton Allain recording his first career goal for the equalizer just 49 seconds later. Bavis entered the offensive zone and one-handed a pass that slowly drifted towards the front of the cage. After a scramble in front, Allain successfully jabbed the puck past Carroll to even the score.
- The Hawks put themselves in trouble again three minutes into the third, having two players sent off simultaneously to give the Purple Knights a five-on-three advantage for two minutes. During that sequence, Carroll saved a shot from David Ciancio, but the puck squeaked through his pads and sat in the crease until junior Luke Mix (Winchester, Mass.) cleared it out of harms way. Carroll denied four more Purple Knights shots during the two-man advantage to keep the game deadlocked.
- Immediately after the expiration of both penalties, Saint Anselm won a faceoff in their own zone. Junior Mark Blaney (Braintree, Mass.) snapped a pass ahead to Brackett, who got past the Saint Michael's defense and rifled a left-handed wrister into the roof of the cage to give his team a 2-1 lead with 15 minutes to play.
- The Purple Knights provided another immediate answer just three and a half minutes later. Ty Bloom collected the puck right in front of the goal following a Hawks turnover in their own zone. His shot lit the lamp and tied the game, 2-2, with 11:31 left in regulation.
- Saint Anselm found the go-ahead goal with eight minutes to go. Junior Will van der Veen (Duxbury, Mass.) received a pass in the slot from senior captain Will Christensen (Ridgefield, Conn.). His one-timer found space under the glove of Marshall as the Hawks pulled ahead, 3-2.
- Right after the ensuing faceoff, Carroll stepped up again for Saint Anselm, denying Quinn McCarthy on a one-on-one breakaway to preserve the lead.
- The Purple Knights got their eighth power play of the game with six minutes remaining. After calling timeout, Saint Michael's nearly found the game-tying goal with Case Kantgias ripping a shot off the left post. However, the Purple Knights knotted up the score for the third time of the evening on the power play, as Zach Taylor redirected home a long-range shot by McFarland with 4:12 to play. Neither side would find the winner in regulation as the game headed to overtime.
- Carroll made a huge blocker save on Kantgias just 23 seconds into the extra frame. Senior captain Tommy Schwartz (Ridgefield, Conn.) countered with a wrap-around shot, but was stopped by Marshall with 3:20 left. Saint Michael's scored the game-winning goal with 2:23 left in the overtime period. McCarthy found a wide open Taylor in the slot. His one-time slap shot ripped the twine to give the Purple Knights the 4-3 win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Michael's outshot Saint Anselm 45-28 in the contest. The Purple Knights also held a 12-11 edge in blocked shots
- It was an extremely close battle on the faceoff dot, with Saint Anselm winning 32 compared to 31 for Saint Michael's.
- Carroll made 41 saves in the loss, while Murphy made 25 saves.
- Brackett notched his third goal of the season, which is tied for the team lead, in addition to one assist. Burum and Cordeiro joined him with two point evenings for the Hawks, while Taylor led the Purple Knights with two points as well.
- After defeating Saint Michael's in last year's Northeast-10 Conference Championship game, 5-1, Saint Anselm falls to a 23-12-4 all-time record against the Purple Knights.
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