With a comfortable lead in the conference standings and just four games remaining on the regular season schedule, the St. Anselm Hawks are not taking the final games of the season lightly in preparation for a NE-10 championship run. While the team has flourished in conference play and found new player combinations to create balanced scoring, a return to health from illness and injury are a must have for the final stretch run.
“We have had to make some adjustments in the lineup just due to a recent flu run through the team and some injuries impacting our depth,” said head coach Larry Rocha. “We have three defensemen out right now and are looking to get them and some other pieces back to get us ready for the final games of the conference schedule before the tournament. Meanwhile we have moved around some of our healthy bodies, and we are seeing some improved production from the new player groupings.”
One of those “new but old” groupings has been the line of Max Burum with Hunter Brackett and the return of Garrett Alberti but not in his normal center position but as a right wing. The line has taken off since their reunion eight games ago and all the players are enjoying the offensive skills and opportunities, they can create with their linemates.
“We had an injury that made us look as some different combinations and Garrett had played with Max and Hunter previously with some success,” noted Rocha. “Garrett is normally a center and a left shot, but we asked him to play right wing and they have really taken off in recent weeks including some big goals last weekend against Post.”
Brackett, a senior forward, has had a breakout year for the Hawks as he leads the team and conference in scoring with seventeen goals and thirty-four points overall. He has been effective in all situations including recording four power play goals as well as opening the scoring in games five times for the Hawks along with producing three game-winning goals.
“Hunter loves to shoot the puck,” state Rocha. “He has a great shot and always looks for the opportunity to shoot as he leads the team in shots on goal. This year, I think Hunter has become more a complete player in taking advantage of his skill to create opportunities for his teammates. Last week against Post, Hunter had the puck on a odd-man rush that turned into a 2-on-1 with Alberti as the trailer. Hunter made a move to look like he was going to shoot the puck, freezing the goaltender before he dished off the pass for Alberti to finish into an open net. That was a great example of his growth as a player. That group has been making the most of their opportunities and setting up each other for success.”
This weekend, the Hawks play their final home games of the season against second-place St. Michaels’s in a series that can secure a first-round bye and potentially the top spot in the standings for the regular season. While most teams might relish the advantage of home-ice, the Hawks are just 5-5-1 in the friendly confines of Sullivan Arena and that is an area of focus for the coaching staff entering the stretch run of the season.
“It is a conundrum,” said Rocha. “We have been better as a road team and I think part of that is when we go away, it is all business in preparing for the game and activites are tightly scheduled. We might be too comfortable at home with friends and family on campus and other distractions that we might not have the same focus. We had to play St. Michael’s earlier, on the road, on separate Tuesdays due to a change in the finals schedule, and we played pretty well earning a couple of wins. We know they are coming into our place looking to turn the tables on us. So now would be a very good time to make our very nice arena a difficult place to play for the opposition. You work very hard all season to earn the home-ice advantage – we need to make sure we are ready to play and take advantage of what we earned.”
The Hawks finish the regular season with a two-game series against cross-town rival Southern New Hampshire before likely enjoying a bye in the quarterfinal round of the NE-10 championship tournament. With a return to health and continued performance form new combinations, the Hawks hope to recapture the conference crown last won in the 2022-23 season.
