THE BASICS
Score: Holy Cross 8, Nichols 4
Records: Holy Cross (15-6-3 / 11-3-2 ECAC East) ; Nichols (7-17 / 4-12 ECAC East)
Location: Hart Center (Worcester, Mass.)
Time: 7:05 p.m.
The Lead: Senior Chelsea Monahan (Cherry Hill, N.J.) contributed her first two goals of the season along with freshman Kelsey Goostrey (Jackson, Mich.) netting her first collegiate points as Holy Cross came out victorious in an 8-4 victory over Nichols at the Hart Center in ECAC East women's hockey action on Friday night.

• Holy Cross showcased its speed and agility early as the Crusaders found the back of the net three times within the first period.
• Sophomore Isabela Bagi (Branford, Conn.) kicked the Holy Cross offense into gear as she drove up the lane and sent a backhanded wrist shot into the lower right hand corner of the net past Nichols goalie Tori Gianformaggio, giving the Crusaders the early 1-0 lead (5:03).
• Sophomore Erin Hall (Pembroke, Mass.) dropped low down in the neutral zone and passed the puck to senior captain Francesca Panarelli (Shrewsbury, Mass.) on the left side. Panarelli crossed a pass to freshman Lauren Abbenante (Cranston, R.I.) as the puck ricocheted off her foot and landed on the stick of senior Nicole Giannino (Bay Shore, N.Y.), who sent the puck into the net and increased the lead to 2-0 (8:49).
• Before heading into the locker room, the Crusaders struck one last time on a goal from senior Mary Klimasewiski (Conchester, Conn.) with five minutes remaining. Junior Mackenzie Boardman (Anchorage, Alaska) came from behind the net and passed the puck along to Klimasewiski. Klimasewiski scooped up the puck and shot it in between the legs of Gianformaggio. At the end of the period, the Crusaders found themselves up 3-0.
• The Crusaders offense showed no signs of slowing down as three more goals were scored in the stanza. Nichols goalie Lindsay O'Connell came in for relief.
• Freshman Emily Lissner (Woburn, Mass.) recovered a faceoff from Giannino and drove the puck down the ice and sent it to Abbenante. Abbenante recovered the pass and sent the fourth Crusader goal into the net (:20).
• The fifth Crusader goal from the stick of Goostrey, her first collegiate goal. Hall recovered a Nichols turnover, took it down the ice and passed the puck to Monahan. Monahan crossed the puck to Goostrey as she backhanded the puck past O'Connell, putting the Crusaders up 5-0 (6:30).
• Bagi sent the puck from the circle to sophomore Meghan O'Donnell (Lancaster, MAss.) across the ice as O'Donnell lost her footing, but managed to send a wrist shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net, giving the Crusaders a six goal advantage (7:32).
• Nichols gained its first scoring opportunity late into the second period on a power-play goal by Laura Christie. Five seconds into the power-play, Erin Dice recovered the face-off by Samantha Vicari. Dice took the puck and passed it to Christie as the puck went found the back of the net, getting Nichols on the board 6-1 (1:25) going into the final stanza.
• The third period saw goals being scored left and right by both teams as Holy Cross outshot Nichols 18-11.
• The puck was being passed back and forth between senior assistant captain Kate Reilly (Natick, Mass.) and junior assistant captain Taylor McGee (Pearl River, N.Y.). Reilly received a pass from McGee and backhanded it to Monahan. Monahan's first goal of the season put Holy Cross up 7-1 (2:09).
• Nichols' second goal of the game came from Alyssa Bufis. Talia Hohmann found the puck in Holy Cross territory and passed it along to Tori Wolter. Wolter passed the puck to Bufis as she was skating off the ice and Bufis skated up the ice and swooped the puck past Stevenson, putting the score at 7-2 (7:47).
• Goostrey centered the puck off a face-off won by Reilly as Reilly took a shot and missed the net. Monahan recovered the puck and sent it in her second goal of the game, which was enough to increase the Crusader lead to 8-2 (8:45).
• However, Nichols proved that they were not going away quietly. The team scored two more goals within the final minutes of the third.
• Grace Murphy shot the puck off Stevenson's kneepads with a recovery by Lisa Coskren. Coskren backhanded the puck Murphy in front of the net and sent the puck over the head of freshman goalie Siobhan Burke (Westwood, Mass.), cutting the lead to 8-3 (9:49).
• A goal by Emily Barden cut the lead to 8-4 (15:48) with just over four minutes remaining in the final stanza. Samantha Direda gathered the puck off the face-off and wrapped it around the back of the net to find Barden as Barden slapped it past Burke.
• As the clock wound down to zero, both team were able to silence one another as the game ended with Holy Cross coming out on top, 8-4. Holy Cross improved to 15-6-3 as Nichols dropped to 7-17.

• Stevenson and Burke had a combined 17 saves for the Crusaders, while Gianformaggio and O'Connell had a combined 42 saves for the Bisons.
• Holy Cross held the advantage in the face-off circle (47-24) and shots on goal (50-21).
• Nichols went 1-1 in power-play opportunities as Holy Cross went 1 for 3.

• This was Giannino's 100th career game.
• Monahan's goals were her first of the season.
• Goostrey's goal and assist were her first collegiate points.

• The Crusaders close out the regular season tomorrow, Feb. 21, as they play host to #5 Norwich at for a 2:05 p.m. puck drop.

• There are numerous ways you can stay connected with the Holy Cross women's hockey team. Follow Holy Cross Athletics on Twitter @GoHolyCross as well as the women's hockey team @HCrossWHockey and on Facebook. 
• You can also get all the latest news and results on the Holy Cross women's hockey team sent directly to your e-mail athttp://www.goholycross.com/list-signup.