WORCESTER, Mass. – Fresh off two victories in the New England Women's Hockey Alliance Quarterfinals, the No. 3-seeded Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team will face No. 2 Assumption University in a NEWHA Semifinals matchup on Wednesday, March 4 at 3 p.m. at the Worcester Ice Center.
The Hawks enter Wednesday's semifinal looking to snap a six-game road losing streak, with a NEWHA Championship berth at stake.
Saint Anselm secured a two-game quarterfinals sweep of No. 6 Sacred Heart University at Sullivan Arena, earning a 3-2 win on Friday before closing the series with a 3-1 victory on Saturday.
The Hawks showed resilience in Friday's opener, rallying from a third-period deficit with goals from senior captain Brooklyn Schneiderhan and junior defender Brenna Young to claim the 3-2 victory. Young scored the game-winner for the first postseason point of her career, while Schneiderhan netted her 23rd goal of the season and the 11th postseason goal of her career.
Saint Anselm never trailed in Saturday's 3-1 series-clinching victory, getting goals from first year defender Madison Macaulay, junior forward Hailey Tullo, and senior captain Mackenzie Moss. Macaulay scored her first collegiate goal on the power play, Tullo led all skaters with three points (1-2-3), and first year forward Talia Ondy recorded the first two points of her collegiate career with a pair of assists.
Across the two games, Saint Anselm leaned on strong goaltending and a perfect penalty kill to close out the series. First year netminder Kayla Czukoski stopped 57 of 60 shots (.950 save percentage), while Saint Anselm's penalty kill went a combined eight-for-eight in the series, including three kills in game one and five more in game two.
Saint Anselm has reached the NEWHA Semifinals in every season since the league's inception in 2017-18. The Hawks also own the most championship game appearances in NEWHA history, advancing to the title game five times (2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2021-22, 2022-23), highlighted by the program's tournament championship in 2018-19. Entering Wednesday's semifinal, Saint Anselm is 16-9-0 (.640) all-time in NEWHA postseason play and 36-14-1 (.716) overall in the playoffs.
Saint Anselm holds an 8-3-1 advantage in the all-time series with Assumption. The Hawks won the first two meetings this season, 4-3 in overtime and 2-1, before dropping the next two contests (5-3, 4-2) in mid-February.
Schneiderhan has paced the Hawks offensively against the Greyhounds with five goals in four games, including a shorthanded goal and an overtime game-winner. Tullo has contributed one goal and three assists while tying for the team lead with a +4 on-ice rating, and first year forward Lauren Waldo has added two goals and one assist. Czukoski is 1-2-0 against Assumption this season with a .917 save percentage and a 3.61 goals-against average. Sophomore netminder Julia Matyas also recorded a 2-1 regulation win over the Greyhounds on Nov. 22, stopping 37 of 38 shots.
The winner of Wednesday's contest will move on to the NEWHA Championship game, where they will take on the winner of the other semifinal clash between top-seeded Franklin Pierce and No. 4-seeded Stonehill College. The title game is scheduled for Saturday, March 7 and will be played at the site of the highest remaining seed.
For the latest on
Saint Anselm College Athletics, follow the Hawks on social media on
X,
Instagram, and
Facebook. Be sure to catch all of the
Saint Anselm Athletics action by subscribing to FloCollege.
