MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team is set to host Saint Michael's for the 2025 Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Men's Ice Hockey Championship Game on Saturday, March 1st. For the second time in the last three seasons, the Hawks will take on the Purple Knights for the postseason title. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in the Thomas F. Sullivan Arena.
GAME INFO:
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
No. 1 seed Saint Anselm and No. 2 seed Saint Michael's picked up wins in last weekend's NE10 Semifinals to advance to the title game. Both squads earned First Round byes as the top two seeds in the conference. The Hawks and Purple Knights were both victorious in the NE10 Semifinals this year over the teams who eliminated them in the same round a season ago.
The Hawks were crowned 2024-25 NE10 Regular Season Champions for the second time in the last three years and the 16th time in program history. They finished the regular season with a 16-3-1 record in conference play. Their 50 points were the most in the history of the league and were 15 points higher than the second-place Purple Knights, who finished with 35 points and a 12-8-0 conference record.
Saint Anselm started their conference schedule with a 4-3 record, but then ended the regular season with 11 straight wins in league play. During that streak, the Hawks won all 11 games by at least two goals.
After automatically going through to the NE10 Semifinals, Saint Anselm overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat No. 4 seed Assumption, the reigning NE10 Champions, courtesy of some late-game heroics by senior
Richie Colarusso (Tewksbury, Mass.). Down by a goal and facing a 5-on-3 shorthanded situation, Colarusso shocked the Greyhounds by stealing the puck, skating up ice, and finishing on a breakaway to force the game into overtime. Less than one minute into the extra segment, junior
Luke Linart (Holland, Mich.) set up Colarusso for the game-winner to send the Hawks to the Championship. It was the first career multi-goal game for Colarusso.
On the other side of the bracket, Saint Michael's earned a 3-1 win over No. 3 seed Southern New Hampshire, last year's NE10 Runner-Up. The Purple Knights found some scoring from unlikely sources as Patrick Last, who entered the game with just one goal in 23 games this year, scored twice. Ryland Dukes, who had not scored this season prior to the NE10 Semifinals, scored an empty-netter to seal the win. Goaltender Evan Plunkett was also clutch between the pipes with 35 saves. It marked the 17th win of the season overall for the Vermont club, the second-most in team history
CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW:
As a program, Saint Anselm leads the NE10 with 11 conference postseason titles. Additionally, their 18 appearances in the title game are the most of any NE10 institution, current or former. Their last appearance in the NE10 Championship Game was during the 2022-23 season when they defeated Saint Michael's, 5-1.
Saturday's game also marks the fourth meeting of the two schools in the title game in the last 12 years. The other eight matchups in that span are all unique, with only the Hawks and the Purple Knights having faced each other multiple times since 2012.
Seventh-year head coach
Larry Rocha '79 is 1-1 in his coaching career in the NE10 Championship Game. He holds a 90-75-13 overall record while leading the Hawks.
This season, Saint Anselm holds an undefeated 4-0 record against Saint Michael's, with two of those wins coming on home ice. The Hawks won two of this year's matchups by two goals and the other two by three goals. Interestingly enough, the Purple Knights were 4-0 against the Hawks last season. All-time, the Hawks are 35-19-4 against the Purple Knights in the series that began in 2000.
KEY PLAYERS:
Senior
Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was named the NE10 Player of the Year earlier this week. He became just the fifth student-athlete in Saint Anselm men's ice hockey program history to receive the honor, and the second in the last four years.
Brackett, who also earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team, currently leads the NE10 with 20 goals and 40 points through 29 games this year. His 20 assists are tied for second-most in the conference as well. The senior forward has scored the most goals in a single season by a Saint Anselm student-athlete since
Mike Richard '13 scored 20 for the Hawks during the 2012-13 campaign. He has six more goals and seven more points than any other skater in the conference.
Joining Brackett on the All-Conference roster for the Hawks were senior
Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) and freshman
Conor Kelly (Braintree, Mass.). Burum was selected to the All-Conference Second Team, while Kelly grabbed a spot on the conference's All-Rookie Team.
Burum is second on the team and third in the conference with 28 points, and his 20 assists are tied for the team lead and are tied for second-most in the NE10. The center has also scored eight goals and leads the team with 323 faceoff wins, which is fifth-most in the league. The Marshfield native has played in all 29 games this season and is currently riding a five-game point streak with three goals, five assists, and eight points during that span. Kelly has had a solid rookie season on the Hilltop with five goals and 11 assists for 16 points, which is the most among the team's first year skaters.
Senior
Chase Reynolds (Middletown, Conn.) recently broke the Saint Anselm men's ice hockey program record for career games played. The captain has skated in 120 games across four seasons on the Hilltop and has 51 career points during that time. He is set to tie the NE10's all-time record for games played in a career with his 121st appearance on Saturday. He has never missed a game during his four-year tenure. This season, Reynolds has racked up six goals (sixth-most on the team) and eight assists for 14 points.
Saint Michael's led all NE10 programs with five selections to the All-Conference and All-Rookie teams. Defensemen David Ciancio and Case Kantgias were both selected to the All-Conference First Team. Plunkett and forward Brennan McFarland earned spots on the Second Team, while Plunkett was also named to the All-Rookie Team.
Purple Knights head coach Damian DiGiulian earned the Lance "Duke" Brady Coach of the Year award for the first time in his career. He is the first coach from Saint Michael's to win this award since Chris Davidson in 2008. The award is named after Lance "Duke" Brady, the former Assumption head coach, who passed away in February of 2019.
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