KEENE, N.H. – Junior
Garrett Alberti (Wilmington, Mass.) continued his hot streak with another two goals, but the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team fell in overtime to Keene State on Tuesday night in non-conference play by a final score of 6-5. It was the first ever meeting between the Hawks and the Owls.
UP NEXT:
- After four straight road games, Saint Anselm returns home for a four-game homestand beginning with two Northeast-10 Conference games against Post on Friday, January 31st at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, February 1st at 3:00 p.m. from the Sullivan Arena.
Score: Saint Anselm 5, Keene State 6 (OT)
Records: Saint Anselm (11-9-2); Keene State (8-10-1)
Location: Keene, N.H. (Keene ICE)
Date: Tuesday, January 28th, 2025
Attendance: 273
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Keene State started the game with all the momentum on their home ice. The Owls created a ton of pressure in the offensive zone with five shots on goal in the opening minute of action, but sophomore goaltender Cam Carroll (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) made a number of saves for the Hawks to keep the game scoreless.
- A few seconds later, Saint Anselm had a player sent off with a minor penalty for slashing. The Hawks were able to kill off the penalty and limited the Owls to just one shot on goal during their man advantage.
- Exactly eight minutes into the contest, Saint Anselm opened the scoring as senior Luke Mix (Winchester, Mass.) found the back of the net for the fourth time this season by finishing on a rebound to make it 1-0. Juniors Jamison Alicandro (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Will Rosen (Washington, D.C.) both earned their first assists of the season on the play.
- Shortly after the goal, the momentum started to shift in favor of the Hawks as the visitors fired five shots on goal over the next few minutes. However, Owls goaltender Ben Skelton was up to the task and turned aside each chance to keep his team down by a goal.
- A little past the midway mark of the opening period, Keene State tied it up at 1-1 after Marcus Chrisafideis stole the puck behind the cage and finished with a wrap-around goal.
- The goal by Chrisafideis was the last shot on goal of the period for the Owls. The Hawks outshot their opposition, 13-0, over the final eight minutes of the period to take full control of the game.
- Skelton was able to stop the first nine of those shots, but the Hawks broke through on the tenth. Alberti stole the puck at center ice and skated in on goal. He sent a pass across the crease to senior Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), who finished on the door step for his team-leading 17th goal of the season to make it 2-1.
- Saint Anselm went on the power play for the final few minutes of the first. Junior Luke Linart (Holland, Mich.) sent a wrist shot off the cross-bar during the man advantage, but Keene State was able to kill off the penalty as the score remained 2-1 heading into the first intermission.
- After generating a few scoring chances early in the second period, the Hawks had a skater sent to the box for hooking. Carroll helped kill off the penalty with a pair of saves to keep his team in front.
- Just 38 seconds after the power play expired for Keene State, Saint Anselm doubled its lead with Brackett setting up Alberti this time to make it a 3-1 game. Brackett backhanded the puck towards goal and Alberti managed to deflect it up and in to put the Hawks ahead by two goals.
- Alberti scored his second of the period exactly four minutes later, extending the Saint Anselm lead to 4-1. Senior Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) drove hard to goal and had his initial shot stopped by Skelton, but the rebound slid out to a lurking Alberti in the slot. He pounced on the loose puck and finished into the top left corner.
- The frustration started to mount for the Owls as they had a player sent to the penalty box shortly after conceding for hitting from behind. The Hawks were only able to generate a couple of chances during the power play, both of which were saved by Skelton, as the Owls came up with a penalty kill to stop the bleeding.
- 32 seconds after successfully completing the penalty kill, Chrisafideis scored his second of the game for Keene State to cut the deficit to 4-2. The Owls got out in transition and entered the Hawks zone where Sean Hoffman dropped a pass back to Chrisafideis, who ripped one just under the cross-bar to make it a two-goal difference.
- With under three minutes left in the second period, Saint Anselm stole one back to regain their three-goal edge. Brackett skated into the zone and got past a defender with a through-the-legs move. He sent a puck towards net that was kicked away by Skelton, but the rebound bounced out to sophomore Steve Armstrong (Victor, N.Y.) who finished with a backhander into the top corner to make it 5-2 entering the third.
- The Owls changed goalies to start the third period. Artur Dzhilavyan entered the game for Keene State and helped stabilize their defense by stopping nine shots in his first 10 minutes of action, including four on the penalty kill.
- With about nine minutes left in the game, Saint Anselm had a player sent off for an interference penalty, giving Keene State a much-needed power play. During the man advantage, Chrisafideis sent a shot off the pads of Carroll. The rebound squirted out to Chase Carney, who slammed it into the back of the net from the right wing circle to make it 5-3.
- Less than two minutes later, Payton Jones tracked down a loose puck in the offensive zone for the Owls. He collected it and quickly sent it to Peter Unger who was wide open out in front. Unger finished between the legs of Carroll, making it a 5-4 score with seven minutes remaining.
- Keene State completed the comeback just 1:16 later. The Owls stole the puck in their defensive zone and caught the Hawks far up ice. Corey Tumenas and Shane Mazur skated in on a 2-on-0 breakaway with the former feeding the latter for the effortless game-tying goal.
- The two teams combined for 10 shots on goal over the final six minutes of the game, but neither team could find the winner in regulation as the game headed to overtime.
- Keene State needed only 20 seconds into the extra segment to score the game-winning goal. Chrisafideis fired a wrist shot through traffic that was deflected in by Unger to seal the 6-5 victory for the Owls.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm dominated Keene State with a 53-32 advantage in shots on goal during the game. The Hawks recorded 14 or more shots on goal in each period, including 21 in the first. Burum led the Hawks with nine shots on goal.
- The Owls were limited to only seven shots on goal in both the first and second periods, but fired 17 pucks on net during the final frame. They also scored the overtime winner with the only shot on goal for either team during the extra segment.
- The Hawks scored twice in the first period and three times in the second. The Owls, who finished the game with four unanswered goals, scored once in the first, once in the second, three times in the third (2:39 apart), and once in overtime.
- Saint Anselm controlled the faceoff dot and won 42 out of 74 attempts in the circle (56.8 percent). Keene State won the remaining 32 out of 74 faceoffs (43.2 percent).
- Burum led the Hawks by winning 16 of his 24 faceoff attempts (66.6 percent). Carney and Thor Hansen each won 12 draws to lead the Owls.
- On the defensive side, both teams blocked nine shots in the contest. Junior John Myers (White Plains, N.Y.) led the Hawks with two blocked shots, while Ryan Koshiol led the Owls with three blocked shots.
- Saint Anselm was held scoreless despite nine shots on goal during three power play opportunities. Keene State scored on one of their three power play chances and totaled five shots on goal during the man advantage.
- Alberti scored twice, while Armstrong, Brackett, and Mix all scored once for Saint Anselm. Alberti has now scored seven goals in his last five games and increased his total to 10 for the season.
- Alberti added an assist and Brackett had a couple of helpers to both finish with three-point nights. Five other skaters for the Hawks contributed with assists.
- Brackett continues to lead both the team and the conference with 17 goals and 31 points this season. Brackett and Burum are tied for first on the squad with 14 assists, which is the second-most in the NE10.
- Chrisafideis and Unger each scored twice for Keene State, while Carney and Mazur each scored once. Chrisafideis also added two assists in the contest, while six other skaters finished with an assist for the Owls.
- Carroll made 26 saves in goal for the Hawks in the loss. Skelton started between the pipes for the Owls and made 34 saves while allowing five goals over the first two periods. He was relieved by Dzhilavyan, who did not allow a goal and made 14 stops in the third period to earn the win.
- This marked the first all-time meeting between Saint Anselm and Keene State.
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