It’s February 23, 2020. Here’s what’s been going on lately in Southern New Hampshire University Sports.
Men’s Ice Hockey
The Penmen needed a sweep of their cross-town rival Saint Anselm College and a little luckto keep their post-season hopes alive, but couldn’t get either, only managing a home-and-home weekend split.
On Friday, the Penmen scored a 3-1 road win against the Hawks, with goals from freshman Matt Monreal (Wautwatosa, Wis.), freshman Ryan Coady (Braintree, Mass.), and junior Kyle Galloway (Sugar Hill, Ga.)
However, SNHU couldn’t pick up a Saturday win at home, falling 4-2 to Saint Anselm. Sophomore Cole Stewart (Alpharetta, Ga.) had an equal strength goal and graduate student Brett Strawn (Wareham, Mass.) had a power play goal.
With the loss, the Penmen finish the year 10-15-0 and 8-10-0 in Northeast-10 play. If there was any consolation for the Penmen, it was that the Hawks didn’t qualify for the Northeast-10 Tournament either, with Franklin Pierce’s win over Assumption earlier in the day eliminating them as well.
Senior Kurt Gutting (Weymouth, Mass.) had 52 saves on Saturday, finishing his college career with a 2.74 GAA, best in school history.
Despite the Saturday loss, SNHU’s win over Saint Anselm in November gave the Penmen two points in the Queen City Cup from the men’s ice hockey season, putting SNHU ahead 14-10 at the end of the winter season.
Women’s Lacrosse
The Penmen opened their season with a 12-6 loss to Mercy College at Penmen Stadium.
Sophomore Kelsey Long (Woburn, Mass.) had a hat trick, with one-goal days from sophomore Madison Peredna (Derry, N.H.), freshman Skylar Renaud (East Waterboro, Maine) and senior Stephanie Barr (Lowell, Mass.)
The Penmen are back in action Saturday, Feb. 29 (12 p.m.) when they play host to Dominican (N.Y.) College at Penmen Stadium.
Men’s Lacrosse
The men’s lacrosse team opened their season with a loss as well, falling 10-7 on the road to Georgian Court University.
Junior Stephen Dubois (Goffstown, N.H.) had four goals and six groundballs in the loss for the Penmen. He now has three hat tricks over the past two seasons.
The Penmen continue the nonconference portion of their schedule on Saturday (Feb. 29) when they make the trek to Molloy for a noon faceoff.
Men’s Basketball
The Penmen had a one-point lead with under a minute left on Saturday but couldn’t keep it, with Stonehill taking a 78-75 victory instead.
Led by ten late points from junior Michael Almonacy (Brentwood, N.Y.), the Penmen took a 17-4 run in the second half before Stonehill finally recovered with just seconds left.
Almonacy finished with 23 points, followed by senior Eammon Joyce (Medford, Mass.), senior Shawn Montague (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and junior Corry Long (Cincinnati, Ohio) with 16, 15 and 11 respectively.
SNHU closes out their regular season on Tuesday with a 7:30 p.m. tilt at home against Saint Michael’s College.
Women’s Basketball
The women also fell, but in a much less dramatic fashion, losing 68-55 to Stonehill.
Senior Karlee Ziliak (Evansville, Ind.) was the only Penman in double digits, ending with 12 points.
The women’s side will precede the men on Tuesday, also playing Saint Michael’s College to end their regular season.
Baseball
The Penmen bounced back from a tough Colorado trip earlier this week with a pair of wins against Felician and Mercy College in South Carolina on Friday.
SNHU’s opponents were limited to just nine combined hits in SNHU’s 11-2 and 10-1 victories.
Senior Tom Blandini (Bow, N.H.) went 6-for-9 on the day with three RBI, with redshirt junior Alex Gomes (Peabody, Mass.) striking out 12 over eight innings in the second win.
The dominance continued on Saturday with two wins against Dominican of N.Y.
SNHU won the first game 33-5 followed by a 10-2 victory.
Blandini, junior Dakota Mulcay (Goffstown, N.H.) and junior Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.) hit home runs during the doubleheader, combining for 13 hits, four walks, four doubles, 10 RBI and 12 runs.
Junior Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.) and freshman Michael LaRocca (Vero Beach, Fla.) also had four hits a piece, with Taveras stealing three bases on the day.
Graduate student Endy Morales (Holyoke, Mass.) and junior Jeffrey Praml (Bridgewater, N.J.) each had seven strikeouts in their starts on the mound.
SNHU took one last win on Sunday, an 8-5 win against the University of Bridgeport.
Blandini and Mulcay each homered again, with graduate student Joshua Goldstein (Haverhille, Mass.) going 2-for-3 with a walk and a double, scoring twice and driving in a run.
The Penmen kick off a four-game set at the New York Institute of Technology on Saturday, Feb. 29 with a doubleheader that begins at noon.
