Sophomore forward Bill Carey scored Stonehill's lone goal at 17:28 of the second period and was named to the All-Championship team.

Hawks capture their third-straight conference title, seventh in program history

MANCHESTER, N.H. (March 3, 2012) – Sophomore goaltender Robert Kang (Glen Rock, N.J./Tabor Academy) turned away 22 shots to earn Most Outstanding Player honors and freshman forward Liam McKillop (New York, N.Y.) tallied three points to lead first-seeded Saint Anselm College past third-seeded Stonehill College, 4-1, in the Northeast-10 (NE-10) Conference Men's Ice Hockey championship game on Saturday evening at the Thomas F. Sullivan Arena.

Saint Anselm (14-8-5, 3-0-2 NE-10) captures its third-straight NE-10 title and seventh conference championship in program history to close out its season. Stonehill end its season at 10-12-3 overall and 6-3-2 in NE-10 play.

McKillop led the Hawks offense with one goal and two assists factoring into Saint Anselm's first three goals of the contest. Junior forward Tucker Mullin (Andover, Mass.) notched one goal and one assist and freshman forward Sean Jenkins (Boston, Mass.) contributed two assists.

For Stonehill, sophomore forward Bill Carey (Weymouth, Mass.) netted the Skyhawks lone marker on assists from junior forward Dana Borges (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) and sophomore forward Bryan Rooney (Canton, Mass./New Hampton School). Freshman Chris Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass./Thayer Academy) stopped a game-high 32 shots including 13 in the second period.

McKillop put Saint Anselm ahead 1-0 at the 4:26 mark of the first period as he converted a two-on-one opportunity beating Tasiopoulos with a forehand-to-backhand deke for his eleventh goal of the season. Jenkins set up the tally drawing Stonehill's only defenseman towards the right post before feeding McKillop for the scoring bid. Mullin was also awarded an assist.

The Hawks increased their lead at 16:16 on the power play as Mullin snuck in his eleventh goal of the season past Tasiopoulos, short-side blocker, for a 2-0 advantage. Jenkins and McKillop received assists by cycling the puck to Mullin near the goal line.

In the second period, sophomore forward Kevin Vanous (Virginia Beach, Va.) pushed the gap to 3-0 finishing on a one-timer feed in the slot from McKillop, who was stationed behind the net, at the 13:42 mark.

Carey answered for Stonehill at 17:28 of the stanza putting home a loose puck behind Kang, five-hole, near the right faceoff circle for his tenth goal of the season on the power play.

Stonehill's rally was short-lived as Saint Anselm responded just three minutes and 47 seconds into the third period as freshman forward Johnny Daniels (Andover, Mass.) sniped a wrist shot over Tasiopoulos shoulder, blocker-side, for his ninth of the season. Junior forward Tim King (Weymouth, Mass.) and classmate Mike Richard (Derry, N.H.) were credited with assists on the tally.

Kang closed out the third period with five saves.

NE-10 All-Championship Team

Most Outstanding Player - Robert Kang, Saint Anselm College, Sophomore, Goaltender
Taylor Larsen, Assumption College, Senior, Forward
Eric McGuirk, Saint Michael's College, Junior, Goaltender
Matthew Doherty, Stonehill College, Senior, Defenseman
Bill Carey, Stonehill College, Sophomore, Forward
Ryan Holley, Saint Anselm College, Senior, Defenseman
Liam McKillop, Saint Anselm College, Freshman, Forward

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