MANCHESTER, N.H. – In his 101st collegiate game, senior
Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) scored three goals for his first career hat trick to lead the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team to a 10-2 blowout win over Franklin Pierce in Northeast-10 Conference action on Saturday. Nine skaters recorded multi-point games for the Hawks, who vaulted into first place in the conference standings with the win.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm begins a four-game road trip on Tuesday, January 21st when they face NCAA Division I opponent Stonehill in non-conference action at 7:00 p.m. in Bridgewater, Mass.
Score: Saint Anselm 10, Franklin Pierce 2
Records: Saint Anselm (9-7-2, 8-3-1 NE10); Franklin Pierce (0-17-1, 0-11-0 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Thomas F. Sullivan Arena)
Date: Saturday, January 18th, 2025
Attendance: 89
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Franklin Pierce looked threatening in the early going with numerous chances in the offensive zone. The visitors fired three pucks on net in the opening two minutes, but Saint Anselm sophomore goaltender Cam Carroll (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) turned aside each shot to keep it scoreless. The Ravens also rang a shot off the pipe just over two minutes in.
- Saint Anselm struck first just 4:16 in to take a 1-0 lead. Senior Richie Colarusso (Tewksbury, Mass.) scored for the second straight game after receiving an excellent backdoor pass from junior Luke Linart (Holland, Mich.) and finishing with a one-timer.
- The Hawks were then awarded two power play opportunities over the next few minutes after the Ravens had players sent off for interference and tripping. Despite generating a ton of shots, Saint Anselm was unable to extend their lead on the man advantage as Franklin Pierce goaltender Riley Mastowski made nine saves to help kill off both penalties.
- Just 13 seconds after the expiration of the second Franklin Pierce penalty, Saint Anselm doubled their lead. Freshman Conor Kelly (Braintree, Mass.) played a pass through the crease to senior Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.), who ripped a shot inside the right post to make it 2-0.
- With six minutes left in the first period, the Ravens went on their first power play of the game after the Hawks had a player sent off for interference. Carroll helped kill off the penalty with three more saves to keep his team in front by a pair heading into the first intermission.
- The Hawks then blew the game open with a six-goal second period. Less than a minute into the period, Linart got the puck and raced towards goal where he beat-the goalie five-hole to make it a 3-0 game.
- A few minutes later, Saint Anselm went on another power play after Franklin Pierce was called for roughing. The Hawks needed only 13 seconds on the man advantage as Burum fed Brackett from behind the cage for his first goal of the game to increase the lead to 4-0.
- Midway through the period, Saint Anselm successfully killed off a penalty of their own. Just 17 seconds after getting back to even strength, Burum fed junior Garrett Alberti (Wilmington, Mass.), who finished with a wrist shot from the lower left circle to put the Hawks ahead, 5-0.
- 39 seconds later, after a timeout and a goaltender change for Franklin Pierce, the home team made it 6-0. Freshman Justin Tremblay (Becancour, Quebec, Canada) stole the puck at center ice and skated into the offensive zone, where he rifled a wrist shot into the top shelf for his first career goal.
- With nine minutes remaining in the second, the onslaught continued as the Hawks scored their seventh unanswered goal. After successfully moving the puck to shift the Ravens defense, Colarusso drew a defender out and set up Kelly on the right hand side. Kelly received the pass and finished into a wide open goal to make it 7-0.
- Franklin Pierce finally broke through with five minutes left in the same period. John Sterling received a long range pass from Ryan Dutcher and skated up ice before beating Carroll with a backhand shot over the glove to cut the deficit to 7-1.
- The celebrations were short-lived for the Ravens as the Hawks responded only 26 seconds later. Senior Luke Mix (Winchester, Mass.) received a cross-ice feed from freshman Brendan Manning (Chandler, Ariz.) and beat the goalie blocker side as Saint Anselm entered the third period with an 8-1 advantage.
- The Hawks kept their foot on the gas and scored just 1:16 into the third. Senior Mark Blaney (Braintree, Mass.) fired a shot on goal that was stopped by Ravens goaltender Jeff Reda, but Brackett got to the loose puck and wristed a shot into the top right corner for his second goal of the game.
- A few minutes later, Saint Anselm was able to kill off another penalty to keep their eight-goal lead intact. Sophomore goaltender PJ Benites (Tyngsborough, Mass.), who replaced Carroll at the started of the third period, stopped a couple of shots during the penalty kill for the Hawks.
- After a few more saves by Benites, the Ravens found the back of the net with under nine minutes remaining. Reda came up with a stop at one end of the ice for Franklin Pierce, who created a 2-on-1 chance at the other. Giovanni Ursillo put a wrist shot into the top right corner to make it 9-2.
- With less than two minutes left in the game, Saint Anselm went back on the man advantage after a slashing penalty on Franklin Pierce. Brackett got some open space on the left side of the ice and sent a rocket of a shot into the roof of the cage for his third goal of the game. That completed his hat trick and sent the Hawks home with a 10-2 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm outshot Franklin Pierce in the game, 45-30. The Hawks recorded 12 or more shots on goal in every period, including 17 in the first and 16 in the third.
- The Hawks, who opened the game with seven unanswered goals over the first two periods, scored twice in the first, six times in the second, and twice in the third. The Ravens scored once in the second and once in the third.
- The battle at the faceoff dot was dead even with both teams winning 38 out of 76 draws (50.0 percent).
- Burum led the Hawks with 12 wins out of 21 attempts (57.1 percent) in the faceoff circle, while senior Chase Reynolds (Middletown, Conn.) went 11 for 20 (55.0 percent). Sterling led the Ravens with 12 wins out of his 29 attempts (41.4 percent) on faceoffs.
- On the defensive side, Franklin Pierce blocked 14 shots in the game, while Saint Anselm blocked 10 shots. Douglas McGuire posted a game-high five blocked shots for the Ravens.
- The Hawks had a decent game on the power play, going 2-7 with 13 shots on goal during the man advantage. The Hawks' penalty killing unit had an excellent afternoon and held the Ravens scoreless on six power play opportunities despite 10 shots on goal.
- Saint Anselm had eight different players score and 12 players finish with at least one point. Brackett scored three goals to lead the Hawks, while Alberti, Burum, Colarusso, Kelly, Linart, Mix, and Tremblay all scored once.
- Nine skaters for Saint Anselm recorded multi-point games: Alberti (one goal, two assists), Blaney (three assists), Brackett (three goals), Burum (one goal, two assists), Colarusso (one goal, two assists), Kelly (one goal, two assists), Linart (one goal, one assist), and Manning (two assists), and sophomore Patrick DeMarinis (Manasquan, N.J.) (two assists).
- Brackett currently leads the team and the NE10 with 13 goals this season. The senior is also first on the team and second in the conference with 23 points.
- Blaney and Linart are now tied for the team lead with 11 assists apiece this winter. Brackett and Burum are right behind with 10 helpers each.
- Sterling and Ursillo both scored for Franklin Pierce. Three different Ravens earned assists in the contest.
- Carroll made 16 saves in two periods of action for the Hawks to earn the win. He was relieved by Benites at the start of the third. Benites went on to make 12 stops during the final 20 minutes.
- Mastowski started between the pipes and earned the loss for the Ravens. He made 16 saves in the first 27:57 before being relieved by Reda, who made 19 saves over the final 32:03.
- This marked the 40th all-time meeting between Saint Anselm and Franklin Pierce. The Hawks improve to 33-6-1 against the Ravens in the series that began in 2003.
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