Manchester, N.H. (March 2) -- In the
Northeast-10 Tournament Semifinals on Wednesday night at Sullivan
Arena, the No. 4 seeded Assumption Ice Dogs dropped a 3-2 final to
No. 2 seed Saint Anselm. The Ice Dogs were lifted by a 34-save
performance from goaltender junior Nick Blanchette (Stuart,
Fla./Worcester Academy), including 12 saves each in the
second and third periods, to the keep the Ice Dogs within striking
distance.
The power play was the key in the first period as all three
goals came on the man advantage. Saint Anselm struck first as
sophomore Mike Richard poked the puck in from just
in front of the net with 11:58 left in the first for the 1-0 edge.
Assumption evened things up with 3:43 left in the stanza as junior
Kevin Glanzman (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa), the
Northeast-10 Defenseman of the Year, fired a shot from the right
side and squeaked the puck in off the Hawk netminder to even things
at 1-1. Saint Anselm took advantage of a 5-on-3 advantage with 1:38
remaining in the opening period though as senior Ryan
Butler snuck the puck in from the left faceoff circle to
make it 2-1 after one.
Assumption's best scoring chance in the second came nine
minutes into the period as junior Taylor Larsen
(Blackstone, Mass./Worcester Academy) hit the left post on
a 2-on-1 opportunity and the game remained 2-1 in favor of the
Hawks. Saint Anselm kept the pressure on the Ice Dog defense and
extended the lead to 3-1 with 7:16 left as John
Hyslip took a pass cross-ice pass from Jim
Toomey and fired the puck from the weak side for his third
goal of the season and the first even-strength goal of the
game.
The Ice Dogs kept the Hawks off the board in the third period
and scored with 1:58 left after pulling Blanchette as sophomore
Kevan Meehan (Melrose, Mass.) knocked in a rebound
to get Assumption within 3-2 in the final moments before the Hawks
held on for the win.
Assumption's Blanchette, the reigning Northeast-10 Goalie
of the Week, turned aside 34 shots in the defeat. Freshman
Robert Kang made 19 saves for the Hawks, who
advance to the Northeast-10 Championship Game at top-seeded Saint
Michael's on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Assumption ends its season at 11-15-1 overall, while Saint
Anselm improves to 12-11-2 on the year.
