WORCESTER, Mass. – Junior
Hunter Brackett (Harwick Port, Mass.) nets his first career hat trick in a 5-2 victory against Assumption University on Friday night during Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) action. The Hawks handed the Greyhounds their second NE10 loss of the season to improve to a 4-5-2 league record.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm concludes the weekend conference series against the Greyhounds on Saturday, January 20 starting at 2:00 p.m. from the Worcester Ice Arena.
Score: Saint Anselm 5, Assumption 2
Records: Saint Anselm 6-10-2 (4-5-2 NE10), Assumption 15-4-0 (10-2-0 NE10)
Location: Worcester, Mass. (Worcester Ice Arena)
Date: Friday, January 19, 2024
Attendance: 460
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Anselm earned an early power play opportunity to kick off the game following a penalty on Camron Roberts under two minutes into the first period. Junior Luke Mix (Winchester, Mass.) fired a shot on target that Greyhounds goalie Thomas McLarnon saved but junior Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) pounced on the loose rebound and slotted the puck into the back of the net to give the Hawks a quick 1-0 advantage in the contest.
- Sophomore goalie Tucker Hanson (Boxford, Mass.), making his second start between the pipes for the Hawks this season, produced seven stops to keep Assumption off the scoreboard crossing the midway point of the period. Junior Chase Reynolds (Middletown, Conn.) collected the puck near the blue line before dishing a pass to Brackett who backhanded the puck past McLarnon to double Saint Anselm's advantage at the 13:17 mark. The Hawks were able to kill the Greyhounds first power play chance late in the period to head into the first intermission ahead 2-0.
- The Greyhounds quickly cut the Hawks lead in half following a score by Ronny Paragallo just 1:51 into the second period to make it a 2-1 game. Shortly after Saint Anselm killed an Assumption power-play, the Hawks capitalized with the extra skater as Brackett tallied his second goal at the 6:37 mark to reclaim a two-goal lead.
- Assumption would go on three consecutive power plays but after killing for the first two the Greyhounds would finally score on the third man advantage to make it 3-2. A few seconds later, Assumption earned a five-minute power play chance late in the period producing six shots, three of which were saved by Hanson. With under a minute left in the second period, Brackett had a breakaway and ripped a shot into the upper right corner to seal his hat trick on a short-handed goal and put Saint Anselm ahead 4-2 by the end of period two.
- Both teams exchanged shots in the first half of the final period with the Greyhounds outshooting the Hawks by a 15-11 edge. At the 11:05 mark, senior Tommy Schwartz (Ridgefield, Conn.) registered his sixth goal of the year off the helper from junior Will van der Veen (Duxbury, Mass.) to take a 5-2 lead. Saint Anselm and Assumption each had one more power play opportunity at the end of the period, but the Hawks would hand the Greyhounds their second conference loss of the season by a final score of 5-2.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Although the score line may indicate otherwise, Assumption held a 38-33 edge in total shots in the game.
- The Eagles also won the blocking battle producing 10 blocks in comparison to the Hawks seven with junior Mark Blaney (Braintree, Mass.) credited with two blocks in the contest.
- Assumption found success from the faceoff dot after winning 35-of-64 draws while Saint Anselm won 29 total faceoffs. Burum led the team in the double-digits winning 12-of-27 faceoffs in the game.
- The Greyhounds had plenty of scoring chances after earning eight power plays in the contest but only managed to score once with the extra skater. The Hawks capitalized on the man advantage going 2-for-4 and producing a combined 11 shots.
- Brackett registered his first collegiate hat trick along with his first-ever short-handed goal to help Saint Anselm takedown Assumption. Burum and Schwartz each recorded their sixth goal of the season in tonight's win.
- Hanson earned his first collegiate win in net for Saint Anselm after posting a career-high 36 saves between the pipes and allowing just two goals.
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