MANCHESTER, N.H. – Two first period power play goals were the difference as the third-seeded Southern New Hampshire University ice hockey team defeated No. 2 Saint Anselm by a score of 4-1 in a Northeast-10 Conference semi-final matchup Saturday evening at the Thomas F. Sullivan arena. The Penmen improve to 16-8-1, while the Hawks fall to 10-12-4.

The Penmen will have chance to win their first ever conference championship since entering the NE-10 in 2003-04, and it will mark the first finals appearance since the 2005-06 season, where the Penmen fell to Saint Anselm by a score of 5-3.

Jay Sylvia (Acushnet, Mass.) put the Penmen on the board early when he scored a power play goal 4:49 into the first period with some help from Joe Collins (Mansfield, Mass.) and Jim Gabrione (Boca Raton, Fla.). After holding the 1-0 lead for what seemed to be the entire period, Dane Caracino (Belmont, Mass.) sneaked in another power play goal with 14 seconds remaining from Gabrione and Sean McTiernan (Grayson, Ga.) to give the Penmen a 2-0 security heading into the second.

Scoring did not stop in the next period as Zach Lubinski (Hudson, N.H.) gave SNHU a 3-0 advantage at the 12:50 mark. But, the Hawks were able to get on the board with just under two minutes to play on a power play score from Johnny Daniels to make it 3-1.

The Penmen scored once more in the third period to regain the three-goal lead and punch their ticket. Collins notched the lone goal from McTiernan and Gabrione at the 7:14 mark to take a 4-1 lead.

Tyler Holske (Attleboro, Mass.) had an impressive 54 saves, 18 in each period, while allowing just one goal. Nick Dries turned away 18 shots in net for the Hawks. SNHU was outshot 55-26, but finished 2-4 on the power play.

The Penmen will return to action next Saturday, March 1 on their home ice when they host fourth-seeded Saint Michael's for the Northeast-10 Conference ice hockey title game. Puck drop is set for 2:10 p.m.

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