MANCHESTER, N.H. - The second-seeded Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team lost to No. 1 Saint Anselm College, 5-1, during the Northeast-10 Conference Championship title game on Saturday at Sullivan Arena. The teams met for the eighth time in a championship game.

Senior Jeremy Routh (Hamden, Conn./New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs) and sophomore Brennan McFarland (Greeley, Colo./Northern Colorado Eagles) were named to the NE10 Championship All-Championship Team. Sophomore David Ciancio (Scituate, R.I./Seahawks Hockey Club) earned the Elite 24 award as the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing in the title game.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (14-12-1), Saint Anselm (21-10-3)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Ciancio, 5 blocks
• First-year Ashton Allain (Brentwood, Tenn./Walpole Express), 1 goal
• Junior Gabriel Gagnon (Mascouche, Quebec/East Coast Wizards), 1 assist, 3 blocks
• Sophomore Ryland Dukes (Nashville, Tenn./Walpole Express), 1 assist
• Junior Marshall Murphy (Little Canada, Minn./Northern Colorado Eagles), 35 saves
• Senior Matt Schreiner (Falmouth, Mass./Walpole Express), 17-for-29 faceoffs
• Sophomore Jack Macdonald (Baraboo, Wis./Seahawks Hockey Club), 9-for-19 faceoffs
• Junior Zach Taylor (Hanover, Mass./South Shore Kings), 6 faceoff wins

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Nick Howard, 39 saves
• Junior Will Christensen, 1 goal, 1 assist
• Junior Liam Lyons, 1 goal, 1 assist
• Sophomore Richie Colarusso, 1 goal
• First-year Garrett Alberti, 1 goal
• First-year Luke Linart, 1 goal

GAME FACTS

• Both teams took 40 shots and finished 1-for-4 on power plays, while the Hawks held a 43-35 edge in faceoff wins.
• The meeting was the teams' seventh in a championship final as the No. 1/No. 2 seeds.
• The Purple Knights lost for only the fourth time in 14 games since Jan. 13, as their five-game winning streak came to an end.
• Murphy's .921 save percentage this season tied Tim Decker's '20 five-year-old program mark, and he finished sixth in goals-against average (2.92). He finished the season with 738 saves, also good for sixth in school history, passing Andy Joy '05 (715 in 2002-03) and Nick Dion '99 (737 in 1998-99) along the way.

THE ACTION

• Murphy smothered senior Andrew Andary's chance from the right circle 9:23 into the opening frame to deny a Hawk 3-on-2 break.
• Saint Anselm got on the board at 10:42, as first-year John Myers poked the puck away from a Purple Knight directly to Alberti, who scored from out front.
• Taylor nearly leveled the teams with 13:11 gone, but a sprawling Howard turned away his one-time bid at the left post.
• Lyons doubled the lead at 14:22, tapping in a cross-ice pass at the vacated left side of the net.
• In the waning seconds, sophomore Case Kantgias (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Northern Colorado Eagles) flew through the right circle before ringing a shot off of Howard's mask from near the goal line.
• McFarland had a slapshot turned away from the left circle during a power play 31 seconds into the second period before Kantgias' try from the right point just after the expiration of the man advantage was paddled away by Howard.
• Christensen added to the Saint Anselm lead with 5:29 gone, taking a pass deep in the slot and beating Murphy to his blocker corner during 4-on-4 action to make it 3-0.
• During a frenzied sequence later in the frame, Schreiner hit a Hawk skater deep in the crease blocking an open net, and the play was soon whistled dead at 11:37.
• Murphy made a spectacular stop at 13:33, reaching up with his blocker while falling down to turn away sophomore Hunter Brackett.
• McFarland had a bid near the left post denied by Howard's standout blocker stop at 15:29.
• The Purple Knights had a pair of bid turned away out front by Howard early in the third, as Taylor's backhanded look was saved at 2:07 before first-year Quinn McCarthy (Melrose, Mass./Holderness School) was turned away by Howard's left pad 30 seconds later.
• Howard had another two saves during a power play around 5:22, with Ciancio and Taylor rejected out front.
• Colarusso tapped in Lyons' cross-ice pass at 9:32 to pad Saint Anselm's lead.
• McFarland had another good look at 10:49, but Howard's blocker stop at the left post kept him off the scoresheet.
• Murphy stoned Lyons during a Hawk power play at 12:00, reaching back with his right pad to stop the puck before covering with his blocker at the left post.
• However, Linart scored 26 seconds later on the same man advantage, one-timing a shot from the left circle over Murphy's right shoulder.
• The Purple Knights got on the board at 15:25, as Dukes crossed for Allain, who one-timed a power-play strike from the edge of the crease. Gagnon also assisted.