MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior
Tim Duffy (Sudbury, Mass.) scored the first goal of his collegiate career, which turned out to be the game-winner, and the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team skated to a 4-2 win over Saint Michael's on Friday night in Northeast-10 Conference play. The Hawks, who finished the game with four unanswered goals, improved to 13-3-1 in league play this season and remain in first place in the conference standings with just three games remaining.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm hosts Saint Michael's in NE10 action on Saturday, February 8th at 4:00 p.m. in the Sullivan Arena as part of Senior Day.
Score: Saint Anselm 4, Saint Michael's 2
Records: Saint Anselm (14-9-2, 13-3-1 NE10); Saint Michael's (14-10-2, 10-7-0)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Thomas F. Sullivan Arena)
Date: Friday, February 7th, 2025
Attendance: 317
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Michael's took an early lead less than three minutes after the opening puck drop. The Purple Knights won a faceoff in the offensive zone and Cole Douglas fired a wrist shot on frame. The original shot was saved by Hawks sophomore goaltender Cam Carroll (Putnam Valley, N.Y.), but Nick Wracker jumped on the loose puck and finished into the back of the net to give the visitors the 1-0 edge.
- Scoring chances were limited for the remainder of the period as both defenses kept things under control. Shots on goal were even at seven apiece in the first period, which came to an end with the score still at 1-0.
- The Purple Knights scored again inside the opening three minutes of the second period to increase their lead. The visitors forced a turnover in their defensive zone and took it the other way on a 3-on-2. After entering the offensive zone, Hans Forselius slid a pass across to Case Kantgias, who picked out the top right corner with a wrist shot to make it 2-0.
- Just over three minutes later, Saint Anselm answered with their first goal of the game. The Hawks dumped the puck in behind the goal and applied the forecheck. After a failed clearance by the Purple Knights, there was a scramble in the crease. The puck made its way to freshman Brendan Manning (Chandler, Ariz.), who turned and fired a low shot through traffic that crossed the goal line and made it 2-1.
- The Hawks used that goal as momentum and continued to increase their offensive pressure. They outshot their opposition, 7-2, over the next seven minutes of action.
- At the 13:04 mark of the second period, Saint Anselm had a player sent off for a hooking penalty. A few seconds into the Saint Michael's power play, senior Richie Colarusso (Tewksbury, Mass.) intercepted a pass for Saint Anselm and raced up the ice. He skated in on a short-handed 2-on-1 opportunity and beat the goaltender with a shot below the glove that tied the score at 2-2.
- The Hawks were able to kill off the rest of the penalty with Carroll making three saves to keep the game tied.
- With four minutes left in the second, senior Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) won a faceoff in the offensive zone for Saint Anselm. The puck squirted out to Duffy, whose one-timer made its way past a number of players before beating the goaltender five-hole to give the Hawks their first lead of the game at 3-2.
- Saint Anselm had a player sent to the penalty box early in the third period for interference. Just six seconds later, Saint Michael's was called for a roughing penalty and 4-on-4 play followed for nearly two minutes. Both sides recorded one shot on goal during that span, but neither ended up scoring.
- With a little over 10 minutes to play, there was another 4-on-4 situation after both teams were called for penalties. 20 seconds before play returned to 5-on-5, senior Mark Blaney (Braintree, Mass.) stole the puck at center ice for the Hawks. His backhand effort was stopped by Purple Knights goaltender Evan Plunkett, but senior Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was there for the rebound. His finish made it a 4-2 game with nine minutes left.
- Over the last nine minutes of the game, Saint Anselm outshot Saint Michael's, 8-2. The Purple Knights pulled their goalie with under two minutes left for the extra skater, but they did not register a shot on goal for the final four and a half minutes of action as the Hawks cruised to the 4-2 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm outshot Saint Michael's in the game, 36-26. The Hawks recorded 14 shots on goal in the second period and 15 shots on goal in the third.
- Brackett and freshman Conor Kelly (Braintree, Mass.) led the Hawks with five shots on goal apiece, while Kantgias led the Purple Knights with six shots on goal.
- Saint Michael's scored the first two goals of the game with one coming in the first period and one coming in the second. Saint Anselm scored four unanswered goals with three coming in the second period and one coming in the third.
- The Hawks dominated at the faceoff dot and won 33 draws out of 53 attempts (62.3 percent). The Purple Knights won the remaining 20 out of 53 (37.7 percent) in the faceoff circle.
- Senior Chase Reynolds (Middletown, Conn.) led the Hawks by winning 10 of his 15 faceoff attempts (66.7 percent). Jack Macdonald led the Purple Knights by winning eight draws out of 19 attempts (42.1 percent).
- On the defensive side, Saint Michael's blocked 14 shots in the contest, while Saint Anselm blocked 13 shots. Four different skaters finished with two blocks in the game for the Hawks. Ashton Allain posted a game-high three blocked shots for the Purple Knights.
- The two teams went scoreless on five combined power play opportunities despite six shots on goal. The Hawks, who scored a short-handed goal, went 0-3 on the man advantage, while the Purple Knights went 0-2.
- Brackett, Colarusso, Duffy, and Manning all scored once for Saint Anselm. For Duffy, it was the first goal of his collegiate career in just his sixth game of the season. Blaney, Brackett, Burum, Kelly, and junior John Myers (White Plains, N.Y.) each picked up assists for the Hawks.
- Brackett is currently riding a six-game point streak. The senior has 13 points over that span with five goals and eight assists. Brackett is leading the NE10 with 18 goals and 36 points, while his 18 assists rank second in the conference.
- Kantgias and Wracker both scored for Saint Michael's, while four players recorded an assist for the Purple Knights.
- Carroll made 24 saves in goal for the Hawks in the win. Plunkett made 32 stops in goal for the Purple Knights in the loss.
- This marked the 57th all-time meeting between Saint Anselm and Saint Michael's. The Hawks improve to 34-19-4 against the Purple Knights in the series that began in 2000.
STAY CONNECTED:
