MANCHESTER, N.H. - Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey senior defenseman David Ciancio (Scituate, R.I./Seahawks Hockey Club) scored twice among his three points and earned tournament most valuable player honors while lifting the second-seeded Purple Knights over No. 1 Saint Anselm College, 5-1, in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship title game on Saturday in Sullivan Arena.
 
Ciancio helped the Purple Knights secure their sixth NE10 postseason crown, and first since 2009, while joining first-years Patrick Last (Derry, N.H./Twin City Thunder) and Evan Plunkett (Charlotte, N.C./Holderness School) on the all-tournament team. Junior Nick Wracker (Columbia, S.C./Northeast Generals) earned the NE10 Elite 24 Award as the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average in the game, and senior Brennan McFarland (Greeley, Colo./Northern Colorado Eagles) earned his 100th career point.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (18-11-2), Saint Anselm (18-10-2)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior David Ciancio (Scituate, R.I./Seahawks Hockey Club), 2 goals, 1 assist, +4
• Junior Quinn McCarthy (Melrose, Mass./Holderness School), 1 goal, 1 assist, +2
• Senior Brennan McFarland (Greeley, Colo./Northern Colorado Eagles), 2 assists
• First-year Jack Tuite (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Springfield Jr. Pics), 2 assists, +2
• Junior Nick Wracker (Columbia, S.C./Northeast Generals), 1 goal, +2
• First-year Patrick Last (Derry, N.H./Twin City Thunder), 1 goal, 4-for-10 faceoffs
• First-year Evan Plunkett (Charlotte, N.C./Holderness School), 27 saves
• Sophomore Ty Bloom (Helena, Mont./Helena Bighorns), 15-for-20 faceoffs, +2
• Senior Jack Macdonald (Baraboo, Wis./Seahawks Hockey Club), 9-for-17 faceoffs
• Junior Jake Leale (Suffern, N.Y./Connecticut RoughRiders), 4 blocked shots
• Senior Case Kantgias (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Northern Colorado Eagles), 3 blocked shots, +2

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Sophomore Chris Cordeiro, 1 goal
• Sophomore Cam Carroll, 18 saves

GAME FACTS

• In a game that featured no penalties, Saint Michael's held a 35-28 lead in faceoff wins while nearly tripling the Hawks in blocked shots (14-5). The hosts held a 28-23 edge in shots.
• Saint Michael's, which avenged a loss in the 2023 NE10 final by the same score in the same rink, had been swept by Saint Anselm during this year's four-game regular-season series by a 19-9 aggregate total.
• Head coach Damian DiGiulian led the Purple Knights to their sixth NE10 title game in his 13th year guiding the program.
• Saint Anselm entered the game riding a seven-game winning streak while going 8-0-1 in its last nine home games. The Hawks, who entered the day leading the NE10 in scoring offense (3.93), were held to their lowest goal total since a 7-0 loss to Division I Stonehill College on Jan. 21, and their fewest goals either at home or to an NE10 foe since a 2-1 defeat against Southern New Hampshire University on Feb. 9, 2024.
• The Purple Knights earned their seventh postseason crown, including their sixth NE10 title (2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2025).
• Much of that postseason history involves Saint Anselm, as this was the ninth finals meeting between the long-time rivals, and the eighth when they were paired as No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. Saint Michael's won in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2008, also securing the 2004 crown in Sullivan Arena, and snapped a five-game postseason losing streak to the Hawks, winning for the first time since the 2008 NE10 final, played at Cairns Arena in South Burlington.
• Saint Michael's finished with the second-most wins in program history (18), short only of the 1997-98 team (20). The Purple Knights led the league with a 2.40 goals-against average and .929 save percentage, both of which shattered school records (2.68 in 2017-18, .916 in 2022-23).
• McFarland finished his career with 101 career points, tying Brian Mullahy '90 for 13th in program annals. He also matched Justin Quenneville '04 for eighth in assists (70).
• Plunkett set school records this year for shutouts (4), save percentage (.935) and GAA (2.22), shattering the latter two marks (.921 and 2.44). His 14 wins were the most by a Purple Knight since Nick Dion '99 posted 15 during the 1998-99 national championship season.
• Last and Wracker both stood out late in the season. Wracker scored three of his four goals this year in the final six games, while Last scored three times in two postseason games after netting one tally during the regular season, in his college debut in November.

THE ACTION

• Following nearly 20 minutes of scoreless play, the Purple Knights tallied at 17:27 in the first period. After McFarland dumped a shot from the left point off of Carroll, Ciancio pounced on the rebound at the right boards, firing the puck back toward the net, where McCarthy tipped in the opening goal from out front. McFarland earned his 100th career point on the play.
• Saint Michael's made it 2-0 after 2:05 on the other side of the intermission, as Ciancio blasted home a shot directly off of Tuite's faceoff win from the left circle.
• The visitors made it 3-0 only 1:17 later. McFarland stole a pass just inside the Saint Michael's blue line and slipped the puck toward the neutral zone, where he found both Ciancio and McCarthy behind the defense. The duo finished the 2-on-0 rush with a give-and-go one-timer potted by Ciancio from the inside edge of the left circle.
• Saint Anselm trimmed its deficit at 14:26, quickly turning a giveaway into the left circle into a goal when first-year Justin Tremblay fed Cordeiro for a one-timer.
• Saint Michael's responded just 17 seconds later, as Tuite and Wracker combined to force a turnover at the Saint Anselm blue line before finishing a brief odd-man opportunity behind the Hawk defense when Tuite fed Wracker for a shot below the right circle.
• Last added an insurance tally at 14:14 of the third period, blasting a shot from the left circle past Carroll after first-year Roman Winicki (Setauket, N.Y./Philadelphia Hockey Club) forced a giveaway at the blue line and dropped a touch pass for the fellow rookie.