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March 6, 2010

Saint Anselm: 'Hawks Cruise Past Ice Dogs 10-1 For 5th NE-10 Title'



(Photo By Richard Orr)

Information Provided By Saint Anselm Sports Information


MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Saint Anselm men's ice hockey team hosted the Assumption College Ice Dogs this evening in the Northeast-10 Championship finals. The Hawks decidedly outplayed the Ice Dogs, running the final score to 10-1 and claiming their first Northeast-10 title since 2006. The Hawks close out the season with a final record of 15-11-1 and the Ice Dogs finish 13-11-1.

The Hawks opened the scoring just 1:59 into the first period, when Nick Wheeler (Nashua, N.H.) banked in a slap shot by Chris Sullivan (Needham, Mass.) to give the Hawks a quick 1-0 lead. After a full period with no score, Timothy King (Weymouth, Mass.) crossed the puck to Tucker Mullin (Andover, Mass.) in front of the net at 2:35 in the second period, who flipped it up and in for a 2-0 lead.

At 7:23, an Ice Dog boarding penalty gave the Hawks their first power-play opportunity, and at 8:03, Paul Snell (Groton, Mass.) passed the puck to Coleman Noonan (Norfolk, Mass.) on the goal line, who crossed it to Mullin for his second goal of the game. Four minutes later at 12:39, Mullin set up King for a breakaway drive, giving the Hawks a 4-0 lead heading into the final period of play.

At 5:19 in the third period, Michael DeVita (Annandale, N.J.) slapped in a fifth goal for the Hawks, assisted by Nick Wheeler, and at that the Ice Dogs got riled up. At 6:08, Pat Keenan and John Hennessey (Westwood, Mass.) received matching minor penalties for holding and roughing. 16 seconds into the 4-on-4 situation, another fight broke out leading to four more penalties, including a five-minute major kneeing penalty, a 10-minute misconduct penalty, and the subsequent ejection of Tucker Mullin.

One would have expected this to be the Ice Dogs' big chance to make a comeback, but instead the Hawks went on to score three short-handed goals before the five minutes were up. At 8:19, just after Keenan and Hennessey returned to the ice, Seth Goodrich (Salisbury, Vt.) drove the puck down into Ice Dog territory and set up Coleman Noonan for the first short-handed goal. At 10:12, Paul Snell netted a breakaway short-handed goal to make it 7-0. At 10:38, the Ice Dogs finally got on the board, as freshman Keven Meehan knocked in a power-play goal for Assumption, but just 17 seconds later, Coleman Noonan netted his fifth short-handed goal of the season, to put the Hawks back up 8-1.

The Hawks finally returned to full strength at 11:24, and 49 seconds later, Mike Richard (Derry, N.H.) scored a ninth goal for the Hawks, and at 16:14, John Hennessey capped it off, converting passes from Snell and Wheeler to render the final score of the NE-10 Championship 10-1 in favor of the Hawks.

Noonan, Mullin, Snell, King, and Wheeler all recorded three points in the game. The Hawks outshot the Ice Dogs 51-16. Assumption goaltender Nick Blanchette made 38 saves and allowed the first eight goals in 50:55 minutes in the net, taking the loss. Steve DiDomenico closed out the game for the Ice Dogs, allowing two goals and stopping three shots in the final 9:05. Alex Wyse (Amherst, N.Y.) made 15 saves in the game, picking up his 11th win of the season. Wyse is the first Hawk goaltender to reach 11 wins since Jason Rafuse achieved 15 back in 2006.

The win gives the Hawks their fifth Division II/Northeast-10 Championship title and their first since 2006. The Hawks scored the most goals and had the largest margin of victory of any NE-10 Championship team in history. Tucker Mullin, Ryan Holley (Owings, Md.) and Coleman Noonan were all named to the All-Tournament team, and Noonan won the Most Outstanding Player award.

The Hawks' three short-handed goals in today's game gave the team a total of 13 on the season, a mark they last reached during the 1999-2000 season. The Hawks came into the game as the number one male NCAA hockey team in the country in SHG, but after today's additions, they surpassed the Manhattanville women's team to be the number one hockey team in the country, male or female, in any division, in short-handed goals. Additionally, Coleman Noonan's points in today's game jumped him up to fifth in the nation in both points (46, 1.7/gm) and goals (27, 0.85/gm) and second in short-handed goals (5). Paul Snell moved up to sixth in short-handed goals, with three, and Tucker Mullin is now the seventh-best rookie scorer in the country, with 34 points, averaging 1.31 per game.