WINCHENDON, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team secured the top spot for the upcoming Northeast-10 Conference postseason and the regular season championship after downing Franklin Pierce by a 4-1 score on Saturday.

With the win, the Hawks improve to 19-10-3 on the season and 13-5-2 in the conference games while the Ravens drop to 10-19-2 overall and 7-11-2 in NE10 play. Saint Anselm has received a bye through the First Round and will host a Semifinal game on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 4 p.m. from Sullivan Arena. The opponent for the Hawks is to be determined.

Senior goaltender Nick Howard (Burlington, Mass.) stopped 23 of 24 shots on goal for the Hawks and has set a program record for saves in a single season, surpassing Matt Delguidice who stopped 825 shots in the 1986-87 season. Howard now sits at 831 saves on the season and at 1,910 for his collegiate career.

Senior co-captains Andrew Andary (Macomb, Mich.) and Matt Hayes (Salem, N.H.), freshman John Myers (White Plains, N.Y.), and sophomore Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) netted one goal apiece for the Hawks. Hayes added an assist for two points in the tilt while sophomore Luke Mix (Winchester, Mass.) recorded a pair of helpers to match Hayes' two points.

It was the Ravens who struck first at 2:57 of the second period as Cody Rumsey managed to get in behind the Hawks defense for a shorthanded breakaway. He would convert on the scoring chance to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

The Hawks would strike three times in just under two minutes in the second frame. Andary got the trend started with a power play goal at 13:07 as he buried a feed from junior Alec Grace (Laguna Hills, Calif.).

Hayes would collect a pass from junior Will Christensen (Ridgefield, Conn.) and drive toward the goal. Hayes lifted a shot into the upper left corner of the goal for his eighth of the season.

Mix got the third goal started as he worked his way behind the goal and would find Myers in front of the goal. Myers redirected the pass into the twine to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead.

Saint Anselm iced the contest with a goal from Burum at 17:30 of the third period. Burum fired a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle into the twine to give the Hawks their 4-1 lead.

The Hawks put 46 shots on goal compared to 24 for Franklin Pierce. Saint Anselm was one-for-six on the power play while the Ravens were scoreless in their two chances.