MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team earned a 5-3 win over Saint Michael's on Saturday to remain unbeaten in their last 11 Northeast-10 Conference games. Five different players scored goals for the Hawks, with seniors
Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and
Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) along with junior
Garrett Alberti (Wilmington, Mass.) recording multi-point games to lead the way. With the win, Saint Anselm has clinched the NE10 regular season title. The Hawks have also secured the No. 1 overall seed and a First Round bye in the upcoming NE10 Championship.
Prior to the game, Brackett, Burum, and fellow seniors
Mark Blaney (Braintree, Mass.),
Richie Colarusso (Tewksbury, Mass.),
Luke Mix (Winchester, Mass.),
Chase Reynolds (Middletown, Conn.), and
Will van der Veen (Duxbury, Mass.) were honored in a special pregame ceremony to celebrate Senior Day. Together, this group of seven skaters has helped Saint Anselm win 59 games over the last four seasons, including 44 in conference play. During their four years on the ice, these seven skaters have combined for 128 goals, 223 assists, and 351 points. They also helped the Hawks win a program-record 21 games and the NE10 Men's Ice Hockey Championship in 2022-23 for their conference-leading 11th title in program history.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm wraps up the regular season with a two-game series at Southern New Hampshire on Friday, February 14th and Saturday, February 15th. Both NE10 contests are set for 7:40 p.m. from the Ice Den in Hooksett, N.H.
Score: Saint Anselm 5, Saint Michael's 3
Records: Saint Anselm (15-9-2, 14-3-1 NE10); Saint Michael's (14-11-2, 10-8-0)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Thomas F. Sullivan Arena)
Date: Saturday, February 8th, 2025
Attendance: 169
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The two teams exchanged shots on goal over the first couple minutes of action. Junior goaltender Tucker Hanson (Boxford, Mass.) made two saves for Saint Anselm, while his counterpart Evan Plunkett made two stops at the other end for Saint Michael's as the game remained scoreless.
- The Hawks started to take control and outshot the Purple Knights, 8-0, over the next eight minutes of play. A little over 11 minutes into the first period, the Hawks went on the power play after the Purple Knights had a player sent to the penalty box for slashing.
- Less than 20 seconds into the man advantage, Brackett blasted a shot on frame from the right wing circle. The shot was saved by Plunkett, but Alberti tucked in the rebound from the top of the crease to make it 1-0.
- With less than three minutes left in the opening period, Saint Michael's went on a power play of their own after Saint Anselm was called for a holding the stick penalty. The Purple Knights were limited to just one shot on goal, which was saved by Hanson, as the Hawks successfully killed off the penalty.
- 10 seconds after returning to even strength, and with 21 seconds remaining in the first period, Saint Anselm cleared their own zone and skated up ice on a 2-on-1 breakaway. Alberti played a pass across to Brackett, who beat the goalie low with a backhanded shot to double the Hawks' lead heading into the first intermission.
- Saint Anselm opened the second period with a flurry of scoring chances in the first couple of minutes. Less than two minutes into the period, the Hawks made it a 3-0 game after Burum placed a wicked wrist shot over the shoulder of Plunkett and into the top right corner.
- Over the next few minutes, the Hawks outshot the Purple Knights, 8-1. However, the score remained at 3-0 after Plunkett started to get into a rhythm with several saves.
- Midway through the second period, Saint Michael's went back on the power play. With two seconds left on the man advantage, Nick Wracker jumped on a loose puck in the crease and tapped it across the goal line to get the Purple Knights on the board.
- With under a minute left in the second, Saint Michael's trimmed the deficit to just one goal. Brennan McFarland stole the puck for the Purple Knights in the offensive zone and played a pass from behind the cage to Brayden Naumann. Naumann was able to beat Hanson five-hole while being squeezed between two defenders, which made it a 3-2 game heading into the third.
- Saint Anselm got the momentum back early in the third period. The Hawks generated several scoring chances and fired seven shots on goal in the first five minutes, but Plunkett kept the Purple Knights within striking distance by stopping each attempt.
- Less than eight minutes into the third, the Hawks doubled their lead. After stealing the puck, sophomore Steve Armstrong (Victor, N.Y.) skated across the blue line untouched. He wasted no time and snapped a wrist shot from the top of the right wing circle into the roof of the net, making it 4-2.
- Nearly four minutes later, the fifth different goalscorer found the back of the net for Saint Anselm. Burum stole the puck for the Hawks in the offensive zone and skated with it behind the cage. He drew the attention of the defenders, which allowed van der Veen to find an open position in the slot. After receiving the feed from Burum, van der Veen ripped a shot into the top left corner, making it 5-2 with under nine minutes remaining.
- With about five minutes left, Case Kantgias brought Saint Michael's back within two after skating in towards goal and finishing inside the left post.
- The Purple Knights pulled the goalie for the final three minutes of the game and outshot the Hawks, 5-0, over that span, but failed to score for the remainder of the contest as Saint Anselm secured the 5-3 win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm nearly doubled up Saint Michael's in shots on goal, 40-23. The Hawks recorded double digit shot totals in every period, including 18 in the second.
- Burum led the Hawks with nine shots on goal in the game. David Ciancio led the Purple Knights with six shots on goal.
- Saint Anselm scored the game's first three goals. They scored twice in the first period, once in the second, and twice in the third. Saint Michael's scored twice in the second period and once in the third.
- The Hawks held a slight advantage at the faceoff dot and won 33 out of 63 attempts (52.4 percent). The Purple Knights won the remaining 30 out of 63 (47.6 percent) in the faceoff circle.
- Reynolds led the Hawks by winning 13 of his 22 faceoff attempts (59.1 percent). Ty Bloom led the Purple Knights by winning 14 draws out of 28 attempts (50.0 percent).
- On the defensive side, Saint Anselm blocked 13 shots in the contest, while Saint Michael's blocked 12 shots. Junior Michael Martignetti (Winchester, Mass.) led the Hawks with a game-high four blocks. Ian Wolanin led the Purple Knights with three blocked shots.
- Both teams scored a power play goal in the game. The Hawks scored once out of three power play opportunities with five shots on goal. The Purple Knights scored once out of two chances during the man advantage with two shots on goal.
- Alberti, Armstrong, Brackett, Burum, and van der Veen all scored once for Saint Anselm. It was just the second goal of the season for van der Veen. Alberti recorded a pair of assists, while Brackett and Burum each tallied one helper to finish with multi-point games.
- Brackett is currently riding a seven-game point streak. The senior has 15 points over that span with six goals and nine assists. Brackett is leading the NE10 with 19 goals and 38 points, while his 19 assists are tied for second in the conference.
- Alberti increased his goal total to 13 on the season, which is second on the team and in the conference. His 21 points are tied for sixth-most in the NE10. Burum is now second on the squad with 17 helpers this year, a total that ranks fourth in the league. His 23 points are also tied for the fourth-most in the NE10.
- Kantgias, Naumann, and Wracker all scored for Saint Michael's. Five players recorded an assist for the Purple Knights.
- Hanson made 20 saves in goal for the Hawks in the win. Plunkett made 35 stops in goal for the Purple Knights in the loss.
- This marked the 58th all-time meeting between Saint Anselm and Saint Michael's. The Hawks improve to 35-19-4 against the Purple Knights in the series that began in 2000.
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