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| Junior forward Sean McNeil netted the game-tying goal for the Skyhawks at the 7:17 mark of the first period. |
Skyhawks lockdown third seed in NE-10 Tournament on McNeil's game-tying goal
FOXBORO, Mass. (February 21, 2012) – The Stonehill College men's ice hockey team skated to a 1-1 tie in overtime against Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) action on Tuesday night at the Foxboro Sports Center.
With the draw, Stonehill (9-11-3, 6-3-2 NE-10) has earned the third seed in the upcoming 2012 NE-10 Ice Hockey Championship and will travel to second-seeded Assumption College (12-10-1, 7-3-1 NE-10) on Saturday, February 25 for a 5:30 p.m. start at Buffone Arena. Saint Anselm (12-8-5, 3-0-2 NE-10), who has claimed the number one seed in the tournament and the NE-10 regular season championship, hosts fourth-seeded Saint Michael's College (6-17-2, 2-2-1 NE-10) at Thomas F. Sullivan Arena with opening faceoff schedule for 7:00 p.m.
Junior forward Mike Richard (Derry, N.H.) opened up the scoring for the Hawks on the power play at the 7:02 mark by cleaning up a rebound in front of Stonehill goaltender Chris Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass./Thayer Academy) for an early 1-0 advantage and his team-leading 12th goal of the season. Sophomore forward Eric Czapka (Holland, Pa.) and senior defenseman Ryan Holley (Bethany Beach, Del.) earned assists on the scoring tally.
Sean McNeil (Canton, Mass./Canton) responded quickly for the Skyhawks at 7:17 with his fourth marker of the season. After freshman defenseman Brendan Greene (Weymouth, Mass.) fed a streaking McNeil in the neutral zone, the junior forward gained entrance into the offensive attack zone, split two defenders and beat Saint Anselm netminder Robert Kang (Glen Rock, N.J./Tabor Academy) with a forehand-to-backhand deke to even the score at 1-1.
The rest of the game belonged to the goaltenders as Kang stopped a combined 18 shots over the next two periods and overtime session. Tasiopoulos turned away 31 shots including a game-high 14 in the third stanza and four in overtime.
Saint Anselm finished one-for-five on the power play while Stonehill did not score in five chances. Both teams committed five penalties for a total of ten minutes.
- www.stonehillskyhawks.com -
