Saint Anselm Holds Off Southern Maine 3-2

            MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Sophomore Jonathon Pallotta (Leominster, Mass.) and junior Nick Leonard (Methuen, Mass.) scored first-period power-play goals 1:18 apart as the Saint Anselm College Hawks built a 3-1 lead, then hung on to defeat the visiting University of Southern Maine Huskies 3-2 in a New England Hockey Conference game Saturday afternoon at Sullivan Arena.

            The win extended the Hawks' unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) and improved their record to 6-2-1 overall (5-1-1 in NEHC).  The Huskies dropped their second straight game to slip back under .500 at 5-6 overall (2-5 in NEHC).

            Pallotta snapped a 1-1 tie when he converted with five seconds remaining on a Hawks' power play at 16:44.  Thirty-one seconds later, the Hawks went on their third man-advantage situation of the period and Leonard found the net at 18:02 to make it 3-1.  The Hawks out shot the Huskies 14-2 in the period.

            Senior Mark Meads (Middleton, Mass.) gave Saint Anselm a 1-0 lead with his seventh goal of the season at 3:40.  Seven minutes later, senior Zach Dymock (Dutton, Ont.) equalized for Southern Maine with his fifth marker of the season assisted by senior Todd Bannerman (Georgetown, Ont.) and rookie Tyler Mathieu (Stillwater Lake, N.S.).

            After a scoreless second period that saw the Huskies kill of a Hawks' 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:41 early in the period, Mathieu pulled the Huskies within one (3-2) 20 seconds into the third period.  The rookie forward converted a set-up from Bannerman and junior Cole Klippenstein (Franklin, Tenn.) for his third goal.

            Southern Maine was hampered in the latter stages of the third period needing to kill off two Saint Anselm power plays.  The Huskies were unable to pull sophomore goalie Kyle Shapiro (Ocean, N.J.) in the final minute for the extra attacker in an effort to get a tying goal.  Shapiro stopped 24 shots in the game.

            Saint Anselm sophomore goalie Shane Joyce (Pembroke, Mass.) made seven saves to earn the win.  The Hawks rolled up a 27-9 edge in shots on goal and enjoyed nine power plays compared the three man advantages for the Huskies.

            Southern Maine will host Bowdoin College on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.) for its final game before taking a break for semester exams and the holidays.  Saint Anselm will take on NEHC travel partner New England College at home on Thursday (7:00 p.m.). 

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