MANCHESTER, N.H. – The No. 1 seed Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team was defeated by No. 2 seed Saint Michael's in the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Championship Game on Saturday by a final score of 5-1. The Purple Knights, who earned their sixth NE10 postseason title and first since 2009, avenged their loss in the 2023 NE10 title game when they fell to the Hawks in the same arena by the same score. Saint Anselm concluded the season with an 18-10-2 overall record after finishing as the NE10 Regular Season Champions for the 16th time in program history.
Score: Saint Anselm 1, Saint Michael's 5
Records: Saint Anselm (18-10-2); Saint Michael's (18-11-2)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Thomas F. Sullivan Arena)
Date: Saturday, March 1st, 2025
Attendance: 1,797
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After a nearly scoreless opening period, Saint Michael's got on the board with under three minutes remaining in the first. Quinn McCarthy scored off a deflection from an initial shot by David Ciancio that made it a 1-0 game.
- The Purple Knights doubled their lead just over two minutes into the second period. Jack Tuite won a faceoff in the offensive zone and found Ciancio, who ripped a shot from the point that flew through traffic and eventually found the back of the net.
- A little over a minute later, the visitors stunned the sold-out crowd with another goal that made it 3-0. The Purple Knights intercepted a pass in their own zone and caught the Hawks out of position, which led to a 2-on-0 rush. McCarthy slid the puck across to Ciancio for a one-time blast as Saint Michael's had all the momentum.
- Saint Anselm started to settle in midway through the middle frame. The Hawks spent more time with the puck in the offensive zone and created scoring chances with seven unanswered shots on goal, but Purple Knights goaltender Evan Plunkett made saves on each shot he faced.
- At the 11:40 mark of the second, the Hawks came close to scoring as senior Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) backhanded a shot off the cross-bar. The follow-up attempt by junior Garrett Alberti (Wilmington, Mass.) nearly crossed the goal line, but Plunkett squeezed the pads to keep the home team scoreless.
- With 5:35 left in the same period, the fourth line for Saint Anselm brought some life into the building with the team's first goal of the game. Freshman Justin Tremblay (Becancour, Quebec, Canada) stole the puck in the offensive zone and quickly fed sophomore Chris Cordeiro (Barnstable, Mass.). His one-timer from the slot found the top right corner and cut the deficit to 3-1.
- Just 15 seconds later, Saint Michael's responded to regain their three-goal lead. Tuite forced a turnover just inside the blue line and then sent a pass over to Nick Wracker, who put one top shelf as the Purple Knights took a 4-1 advantage into the intermission.
- The visitors played a much more conservative third period and were content to just clear the zone. The Hawks outshot the Purple Knights in the final frame, 10-3, but could not find a solution on offense.
- With a little more than five minutes remaining, Patrick Last sealed the game with his third goal of the postseason. Saint Michael's went on to win the game by a final score of 5-1, the same score they lost by in the title game two years ago.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm outshot Saint Michael's in the game, 28-23. Each team recorded 10 or more shots on frame in two of the three periods.
- Senior Will van der Veen (Duxbury, Mass.) led the Hawks with five shots on goal. Last also posted five shots on goal to lead the Purple Knights.
- Saint Michael's scored the opening goal late in the first period before adding two more early in the second just over a minute apart to take a 3-0 lead. Saint Anselm got one back late in the second, but Saint Michael's scored 15 seconds later and added another in the third.
- The Purple Knights held a slight edge in the faceoff circle with 35 wins out of 63 attempts (55.6 percent). The Hawks won the remaining 28 out of 63 (44.4 percent) at the dot.
- Senior Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) led the Hawks with 11 faceoff wins out of 25 attempts (44.0 percent). Ty Bloom led the Purple Knights with a game-high 15 faceoff wins out of 20 draws (75.0 percent).
- On the defensive side, Saint Michael's blocked 14 shots in the contest, while Saint Anselm blocked five shots. Jake Leale led the visitors with a game-high five blocks.
- There were no penalties taken in the entire game by either team.
- Cordeiro scored the lone goal of the day for the Hawks off a feed from Tremblay. It was his fifth goal of the season and first career postseason marker.
- Ciancio scored twice and added an assist for the Purple Knights. Last, McCarthy, and Wracker also scored for the visitors.
- Sophomore goaltender Cam Carroll (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) made 18 saves in goal for the Hawks and earned the loss. Plunkett made 27 stops in goal for the Purple Knights and earned the win.
- Saint Anselm is now 11-8 all-time in the NE10 Championship Game. Saint Michael's improves to 6-6 overall in the title game and has the second-most postseason titles behind only Saint Anselm.
- Seniors Richie Colarusso (Tewksbury, Mass.) and Chase Reynolds (Middletown, Conn.) were named to the NE10 All-Championship Team for the Hawks despite the loss.
- Ciancio, Last, and Plunkett were named to the NE10 All-Championship Team for the Purple Knights. Ciancio earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award, while Wracker earned the NE10 Elite 24 Award as the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average in the game.
- This marked the 59th all-time meeting between Saint Anselm and Saint Michael's. The Hawks fall to 35-20-4 against the Purple Knights in the series that began in 2000.
- It was the ninth meeting between the long-time rivals in the NE10 Championship Game, and the eighth when they were paired as No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. With the win, Saint Michael's snapped a five-game postseason losing streak to Saint Anselm dating back to 2008.
- This was the second meeting in the last three years, and fourth in the last 12 seasons, between these two clubs in the NE10 title game.
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