Men's Ice Hockey

Manchester, N.H. (March 2)-The Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team will host the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 tournament against the Stonehill College Skyhawks Wednesday night at Sullivan Arena. The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m.

The Skyhawks, who were the six seed in the tournament, had five different players score, and got a strong performance between the pipes from Mike Manna (Framingham, Mass.) as Stonehill shutout an opponent for the first time in over three years, taking down the Franklin Pierce Ravens 5-0 in the first round of the NE-10 Tournament last Saturday afternoon.

The Hawks were given a first round bye and top seed in the tournament for their 5-0 NE-10 record.   

Leading Scorers
The Hawks have seven players with 10 or more points on the season. They are led in goal scoring by the sophomore tandem of Coleman Noonan (Norfolk, Mass.) and Paul Snell (Groton, Mass.) with 10 goals apiece. Noonan also leads the team with 23 points, while senior tri-captain Joe Fernald (Braintree, Mass.) leads the team in assists with 14.

Stonehill is led in goals by senior forward Paul Reissfelder (Plymouth, Mass.) with 11 lamplighters, while senior forward Brendan O'Brien (Braintree, Mass.) leads the team in points (30) and assists (23).

In Between the Pipes
The Hawks have played four different goalies this year, but have been led by the trio of Alex Wyse (Amherst, N.Y.), Kevin Fairweather (Woburn, Mass.) and Pat Gallagher (Framingham, Mass.). Wyse leads the team this season with four wins and 341 saves, while Fairweather boasts a .919 save percentage and a 2.61 goals against average. Gallagher has pitched in with a .907 save percentage and a 3.50 goals against average with three wins.

Stonehill has been led by goaltenders Mike Manna (Framingham, Mass.) and Derek Chapdelaine (Granby, Mass.) this season. Manna has a one shutout, 339 saves, a .906 save percentage and a 3-6-1 record. Chapdelaine has stopped 335 shots, a .896 save percentage, a 3.69 goals against average and a 6-5-0 record.

Last Meeting
The Hawks will face Stonehill for the second time in a week. Last Thursday the Hawks upended the Skyhawks 4-1 to conclude the regular season.

The Hawks scored the lone goal of the first period just over the midway point when senior tri-captain Joe Fernald (Braintree, Mass.) passed it to Coleman Noonan (Norfolk, Mass.) who hit the trailing Michael Adams (Bedford, Mass.) to beat Skyhawk goalie Tyler Jackson (Little Silver, N.J.) to make it 1-0. Hawk goalie Kevin Fairweather (Woburn, Mass.)  made five stops in the first to preserve the lead.

In the second period Saint Anselm extended their lead on a goal from Ryan Butler (Arlington, Mass.) at the 4:28 mark for the 2-0 lead. Stonehill would cut the lead in half with under three minutes left in the second on Paul Reissfelder's (Plymouth, Mass.) team-leading 11th goal of the season to make it 2-1 going into the final period.

The final stanza was all Hawks as senior defenseman Mike Nunzianto (Guilford, Conn.) scored just 19 seconds into the period to make it 3-1. At the 13:19 mark Saint Anselm sophomore Jim Toomey (Billerica, Mass.) scored on a pass from John Penny (Andover, Mass.) on a two-on-one for the 4-1 final.

Noonan and Fernald each contributed two assists in the victory. Fairweather made 29 saves while allowing only one goal in the win and Jackson made 27 stops in between the pipes for the Skyhawks in the losing effort.