WEST POINT, N.Y. – Sophomore Ryan McGrath (Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored his first collegiate goal and posted an assist as the Holy Cross men's hockey team defeated Army, 6-1, on Friday night at Tate Rink in Atlantic Hockey action. With the win, the Crusaders improve to 13-13-3 overall (11-8-3 Atlantic Hockey), while the Black Knights fall to 4-16-7 overall (3-14-5 Atlantic Hockey). The Crusaders have now won three straight games as they have outscored their opponents by a 16-2 margin over the last three contests. These two teams will conclude their three-game regular season series on Saturday, Feb. 11 at Tate Rink at 7:00 p.m. Holy Cross is 2-0-0 so far this season versus the Black Knights as the Crusaders defeated Army earlier this season by a 3-1 score on Dec. 10.
The Crusaders took a 1-0 lead at 14:00 of the first period when junior Brandon Nunn (Fairport, N.Y.) tipped in a shot by McGrath. Junior Erik Vos (Carlisle, Ontario) also posted an assist. The goal was Nunn's team-best 12th of the season. At 17:35, a shot by senior Luke Miller (Andover, Mass.) was saved by Army goalie Ryan Leets, but the rebound went right to junior Rob Linsmayer (Winnetka, Ill.) who sent the puck to an open lower right side of the net for his sixth goal of the season. Senior Matthew Davis (Lancaster, N.Y.) also tallied an assist. The Crusaders outshot the Black Knights, 14-7.
At 5:14 of the second period, the Black Knights made it a 2-1 contest when Mike Hull sent the puck to the upper left corner of the net for a power play goal. The Crusaders responded at 14:23 when McGrath netted his first collegiate goal. Miller and freshman Tommy Dwyer (Ridgefield, Conn.) posted assists. The Crusaders went 0-1 on the man-advantage and the Black Knights went 1-1. Each team took 11 shots.
The Crusaders increased their lead to 4-1 at 4:23 of the third period, when senior Andrew Cox (Lombardy, Ontario) found the back of the net on a loose puck. Sophomore Adam Schmidt (Warrington, Pa.) and junior Kyle Fletcher (Kanata, Ontario) tallied assists. The goal by Cox was his 10th of the season. At 8:59, senior Kyle Atkins (Brockville, Ontario) sent the puck to the right side of the net for his sixth goal of the season and his fifth in the last seven games after Vos passed him the puck. Sophomore Shayne Stockton (Rochester, N.Y.) also tallied an assist. With just 29 seconds left, freshman Mike McNamara (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) netted his second goal of the season. Miller and Linsmayer posted assists.
Freshman Matt Ginn (Lindsay, Ontario) made 23 saves and improves to 10-6-1 on the season as he tallied his third straight win, while Leets posted 31 saves and is 4-10-4. The Crusaders went 1-3 on the power play and the Black Knights went 1-2. Holy Cross outshot Army, 37-24.
