Hawks pull away in third; down Seahawks 6-1

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's hockey team exploded for six third-period goals to run away with an 8-1 victory over Salve Regina to start Pink In The Rink weekend with its seventh-straight win on Friday evening at Sullivan Arena in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action.

Alex Starzyk and Victoria Shea each scored twice to lead 13 Saint Anselm (16-2-2, 12-1-0 NEHC) skaters with at least one point in the win. Salve Regina (3-15-1, 2-9-1 NEHC) took the lead midway through the first period before the Hawks rattled off the final eight goals to win their eighth-straight game in the series.

In addition to Starzyk and Shea's two-goal performances, Alison Quinn and Megan Klaus each tallied a goal and an assist and Alison Butler recorded four assists for the Hawks. The victory kept Saint Anselm two points ahead of Norwich atop the NEHC standings.

The Seahawks scored the first goal of the game at 10:21 of the first period, as Madison McCann gained the puck in transition and fired a wrister in under the bar from the middle of the left circle. Saint Anselm came right back to tie the score through Quinn, who tipped in a Jackie Guy shot from the slot in front of the net on the power play. The two teams went to the first intermission tied at 1-1 despite the Hawks holding a 17-1 advantage in shots on goal.

Kaitlyn Spillane scored the lone goal of the second period, blasting in a shot from near the blue line on the left side that beat Jennifer O'Connell on the glove side at the 10:07 mark. The goal was the sixth in the last six games for the reigning NEHC Player of the Week and gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead after two.

Saint Anselm outshot Salve Regina 28-1 in the third period while scoring six times to cruise to the win. Victoria Shea grabbed her first of two third-period goals just 1:38 in to start the flurry.

The Hawks' final five goals came in the span of 5:25 around the midpoint of the third. Klaus and Starzyk scored back-to-back power-play goals at 8:05 and 10:31 to make it 5-1. Just 39 seconds after Starzyk's first of the game, Ashley Moran collected a rebound off a Mary Morrison shot and scored from in close and Starzyk netted her second after putting a move on O'Connell 1:05 later.

Shea closed the scoring at 13:30 on a rebound for her third-career multi-goal game. The Seahawks managed five shots on Hannah Synnott, who made four saves to pick up her third win of the season. The Hawks peppered O'Connell with 63 shots with the Salve Regina netminder making 55 saves in the loss.

Saint Anselm's second-ranked power play in the country went 3-for-7 on the night, while Salve Regina was 0-for-3.

The Hawks host Manhattanville on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 1 p.m. to start the second of back-to-back hockey doubleheaders at Sullivan Arena on Pink In The Rink Weekend.