For Immediate Release

February 25, 2012

South Easton, Mass. – In semifinal action of the 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Ice Hockey Championship on Saturday night, third-seeded Stonehill College earned a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Assumption College while top-seeded Saint Anselm College blanked No. 4 Saint Michael's College, 1-0.

As a result, Saint Anselm will host Stonehill on Saturday, March 3 at the Thomas F. Sullivan Arena in Manchester, N.H. Puck drop for the conference's league championship will be at 3:00 p.m.

Saint Anselm, the six-time and two-time defending Northeast-10 regular Champions, won its 10th regular season league title in 13 years this season. The Hawks' lone goal on Saturday night came at the 8:58 mark of the first period by Mike Richard from Johnny Daniels, while Robert Kang turned away all 32 shots he faced, including 17 in the third period as Saint Michael's tried to put the pressure on the sophomore goaltender.

Eric McGuirk made 29 saves in net for Saint Michael's, who dropped to 6-18-2 on the season. Saint Anselm meanwhile improved to 13-8-5 with the semifinal victory.

Stonehill claimed its program's only Northeast-10 Championship in 2006-07 with an overtime victory over Saint Anselm. The Skyhawks, who also made a conference title game appearance in 2008-09, scored twice in the first period against Assumption. Kevin Aufiero netted the game's first tally at the 8:17 mark, assisted by Pat Greene and Oliver Williams, and Bryan Rooney added an unassisted goal later in the period. The Skyhawks added another in the second on a Sean McNeil score from Dana Borges, while Assumption's Nick Mattiello scored the Greyhounds' only goal with 9:50 remaining in the third.

Stonehill, which improved to 10-11-3, saw netminder Tyler Jackson stop 41 of 42 shots in the victory, while Bobby Bowden made 54 saves for Assumption as the Greyhounds fell to 12-11-1.

For all the latest updates from Saturday's contest, be sure to follow the Northeast-10 on Twitter (@TheNortheast10).

The Northeast-10 is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 5,500 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.

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