Junior Angelo Todesca posted a goal and assist for the Skyhawks in tonight's NE-10 semifinal.

2010 NE-10 TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL
#1 Saint Anselm Eliminates #5 Stonehill, 5-3

Noonan leads Hawks to NE-10 Championship game with three points

Boxscore 

MANCHESTER, N.H. (March 3, 2010) - Top-seeded Saint Anselm College opened a three-goal lead after a period of play and made it stand the rest of the way in posting a 5-3 victory over fifth-seeded Stonehill College in semifinal round action of the 2010 Northeast-10 Conference ice hockey tournament at Thomas F. Sullivan Arena tonight.

Saint Anselm (14-11-1, 4-0-1 NE-10) advances to Saturday's NE-10 Championship where it will battle second-seeded Assumption College (15-10-1, 8-2-1 NE-10) at Sullivan Arena at 4 p.m. Assumption reached its first NE-10 title game with a 5-1 victory over Saint Michael's College (7-17-3, 3-1-1 NE-10) in tonight's other semifinal matchup. Stonehill sees its season close with a 10-16-1 record overall, 2-9-0 in the NE-10, reaching the semifinal round of the NE-10 tournament for the fifth-straight year.

Junior Coleman Noonan (Norfolk, Mass./Catholic Memorial) led Saint Anselm with three points on two goals and an assist. Junior Jim Toomey (Billerica, Mass./Kimball Union) added a goal and assist for the Hawks, while classmate Paul Snell (Groton, Mass.) dished two assists. Saint Anselm also got goals from sophomore Ryan Holley (Owings, Md.) and freshman Mike Richard (Derry, N.H.).

Junior Angelo Todesca (Westwood, Mass./Catholic Memorial) and sophomore Patrick Greene (Weymouth, Mass./Catholic Memorial) each finished with a goal and assist to lead Stonehill. Freshman Tyler Gordon (Franklin, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) chipped in with a goal for the Skyhawks. 

Sophomore Patrick Greene also registered a goal and assist.

Junior goaltender Alex Wyse (Amherst, N.Y.) posted 26 saves to preserve the win for Saint Anselm, including ten in a scoreless first period. Junior Michael Manna (Framingham, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) stopped 34 shots in goal for Stonehill. The Hawks finished with a 39-30 advantage in shots on goal and converted 1-of-2 power play chances on the night, while the Skyhawks were successful on 1-of-3 power play opportunities.

Saint Anselm broke on top just 2:31 into the contest as Toomey netted his seventh goal of the season, assisted by Noonan. Holley doubled the Hawks lead with a power play goal at 5:32, assisted by Snell and freshman Tucker Mullin (Andover, Mass.), for his fifth marker of the season. Saint Anselm carried a three-goal lead into the first intermission as Richard collected his eighth of the year at 16:42.

Stonehill broke through 1:43 into the second period when Gordon scored his third of the season, assisted by Greene, on the power-play. Saint Anselm regained its three-goal cushion with Noonan's first goal of the night, assisted by Snell, at 16:02. The Skyhawks wouldn't go quietly, adding their second of the contest with 1:35 left before the second intermission, when Todesca netted his team-leading 12^th goal of the year.

Saint Anselm iced the game by reclaiming its three-goal lead midway through the third period when Noonan potted his 21^st of the season, assisted by Toomey and senior Seth Goodrich (Salisbury, Vt.), at 10:21. Stonehill rounded out the scoring with just one-second left in regulation after pulling Manna for an extra attacker with 1:01 left on the clock. Greene netted his seventh goal of the year, assisted by Todesca and senior Zachary Cantin (Saugus, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) with just a second left on the clock.

Saint Anselm 5, Stonehill 3

                                    1      2    3       -    T
Stonehill                       0      2    1       -    3
Saint Anselm                3      1    1       -    5

Scoring: STA: Jim Toomey (Coleman Noonan) 2:31; STA: Ryan Holley (Tucker Mullin, Paul Snell) 5:32-PP; STA: Mike Richard (Michael DeVita, Nick Wheeler) 16:42; STO: Tyler Gordon (Patrick Greene) 1:43-PP; STA: Noonan (Snell) 16:02; STO: Angelo Todesca (Christopher Gorovitz, John Yokow) 18:25; STA: Noonan (Toomey, Seth Goodrich) 10:21; STO: Greene (Zachary Cantin, Todesca) 19:59.

Goaltending: STO: Michael Manna (58:59) 12-10-12=34; STA: Alex Wyse (60:00) 10-9-8=27.

Shots on Goal: STO: 10-11-9=30; STA: 15-11-13=39.

Power Play: STO: 1/3; STA: 1/2.