THE BASICS:

Score: Bentley 5, Holy Cross 2

Records: Holy Cross (10-14-5, 9-9-5 AHC); Bentley (15-11-3, 13-7-3 AHC)

Location: Worcester, Mass. (Hart Center)

Date: Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015

Time: 7:05 p.m.            

The Lead: Kyle O'Brien scored the game-winning goal for the Falcons as the Holy Cross men's hockey team fell to Bentley, 5-2, in Atlantic Hockey action at the Hart Center on Saturday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Crusaders took a 1-0 lead at 5:09 of the first period when junior Karl Beckman (Farmington Hills, Mich.) fired off a slap shot and freshman Scott Pooley (Granger, Ind.) tipped it stick side over the shoulder of Bentley goalie Jayson Argue.
• The Falcons quickly answered back 19 seconds later at 5:28 of the first period when Matt Maher blasted a slap shot towards the goal and Matt Sieckhaus tipped it in over senior captain Matt Ginn's (Lindsay, Ontario) glove side shoulder.
• Bentley then took the lead at 18:21 of the first period with a shorthanded goal by Andrew McDonald during Bentley's second penalty of that period.
• In the first period, Argue had 10 saves to the Crusaders 11 shots and Ginn had six saves to the Falcons eight shots.
• At the end of the second period at 19:21, Bentley's lead grew when O'Brien fired in a wrist shot from the blue line past Ginn's stick side.
• In the second period, the Falcons outshot the Crusaders 15-5.
• In the beginning of the third period, Kyle Schmidt popped a shot past Ginn's right shoulder, assisted by Billy Eiserman.
• The Crusaders answered back just 5:32 later when sophomore Mike Barrett (Orland Park, Ill.) scored off a rebound from a shot by junior Jake Bolton (Ellington, Conn.) tightening the gap between the teams.
• At 5:29 in the third period, Ginn faced Alex Kubiak in one-on-one action and Ginn managed to block the low shot.
• The Crusaders went with an empty net with 1:34 left, which led to Kubiak's goal from the blue line at 1:17.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Bentley outshot Holy Cross, 37-27
• Neither team capitalized on the power play, although Bentley had seven opportunities and Holy Cross had eight opportunities.
• Ginn recorded 32 saves, while Argue posted 25 saves for Bentley.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The Crusaders are 1-2-0 versus Bentley this year.
• Barrett is on a five-game point streak.
• Bolton is now tied with four other Crusaders for the 10th spot for the most points scored with 18 by a defenseman in a season in the school's Division I era. Among the four other players is teammate Beckman.
• Pooley is now tied for the team lead with eight goals.

UP NEXT:

• The Crusaders return to action on Friday and Saturday, Feb 13-14 against RIT at the Hart Center at 7:05 p.m.

BE PART OF THE ACTION THIS SEASON:

• To purchase tickets for the 2014-2015 Holy Cross men's hockey season go to GoHolyCross.com/Tickets or call (508) 793-2573.

• There are numerous ways to stay connected with the Holy Cross men's hockey team. Follow the Crusaders on Twitter @HCrossMHockey and on Facebook. You can also get the latest news and results on the team sent directly to your e-mail. To sign up for e-mail alerts go here: http://www.goholycross.com/list-signup.