Rutland, Vt. – Junoir Nicole Giannino (Bay Shore, N.Y.) scored a last second goal to lift Holy Cross to a 4-3 victory over Salve Regina Friday evening at the Rutland Herald Invitational. This is the second straight year that Holy Cross has taken part in this Invitational and will advance to the championship game on Saturday. The Crusaders bring their losing streak to a halt and improve to 7-5-0 overall and 4-2-0 in the ECAC East. The Seahawks fall to 6-4-2 on the year and 2-4-0 in the conference.
Junior Mary Kilmasewiski (Cochester, Conn.) scored her second goal of the season past goaltender Colleen Marcik to put Holy Cross on the board first with 9:55 into the period. Freshman Izzy Bagi (Branford, Conn.) captured the assist as it was her third thus far this season.
Salve Regina tied the game up 1-1 eight minutes into the second period. Michelle Holmes notched the goal and the assists were credited to Shelby Johnson and Danielle Phalon.
Both teams came out strong in the last period of action. The third period saw the most action as the Crusaders and Seahawks went neck and neck down till the very end of the game.
The Seahawks scored the leading goal with 3:21 into the final stanza. Shannon Coleman posted the goal while Holmes and Sarah Markey garnered the assists. A few minutes later Holy Cross got right back into the thick of things as senior Kylee Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.) netted the goal to notch it at 2-2. The goal was Sullivan's second of the season. Giannino and Bagi were credited with the assists. It was Izzy's second assist in the game. Freshman Rose Rather (Stamford, Conn.) scored the third goal of the game to give Holy Cross the lead with 10:29 into the game as sophomore Kati Goguen (Acton, Mass.) helped pave the way for the score. Moments later Phalon got Salve Regina back on the score board to tie it at 3-3 and Johnson produced her second assist on the night.
Giannino shot the game winning goal past the Seahawks goaltender with 15 seconds left to play to give Holy Cross the 4-3 win at the Rutland Herald Invitational while freshman Erin Hall (Pembroke, Mass.) and senior Amanda Gallagher (Park Ridge, Ill.) earned the assists. Giannino capped off the night with two points (one goal and one assist).
Junior Krista Manzanares (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) earned the victory between the pipes posting 16 saves and seven of which came in the third period. She now holds a 3-3 mark on the year.
The Crusaders held a 15-4 shot advantage in the first period of play. In the second period of action both teams mustered a total of 10 face-off wins on both sides. Holy Cross powered there way with 12 shots in the final stanza while Salve Regina came away with nine. The Crusaders won 36 faceoffs compared to the Seahawks who had 23 throughout the course of the game.
Holy Cross will face Castleton State tomorrow in the championship game of the Rutland Herald Invitational at 3:00 p.m.
