THE BASICS:

Score: Holy Cross 4, Castleton 1

Records: Holy Cross (16-2-0, 7-2-0 NEHC); Castleton (13-4-2, 8-2-1 NEHC)

Location: Worcester, Mass. (Hart Center)

Date: Friday, January 29, 2016

Time: 6:05 p.m.

The Lead: Freshman Maeve Reilly (Ridgefield, Conn.) scored two goals to contribute to the 4-1 victory over #8 Castleton in New England Hockey Conference action at the Hart Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Sophomore goaltender Tessie Salatas (Laval, Quebec) had a series of big stops for the Crusaders in the first period. At the 4:56 mark, she used her blocker to deflect away a tough wrist shot hit by Rachel Bombardier before saving a shot from the low slot by Chanel Tvergyak.
• The Crusaders answered with the first score of the night at 7:32. After senior Kati Goguen (Acton, Mass.) knocked the puck away in Holy Cross' slot, junior Meghan O'Donnell (Lancaster, Mass.) skated with the puck from Holy Cross' blue line, taking it to the left faceoff circle and drilling it past the stick side of Castleton netminder Jess Cameron off a wrist shot.
• Holy Cross increased their lead to 2-0 at the 11:23 mark. Senior Mackenzie Boardman (Anchorage, Alaska) won the puck at the left blue line then sent a pass to Reilly into in the slot. Reilly handled the puck, hitting a backhand shot past the stick side of Cameron.
• Castleton answered with a goal at the 14:10 mark. Aimee Briand received the puck from Jocelyn Forrest, who was battling for the puck in the boards. From the faceoff circle, Briand knocked the puck past Salatas to make it a 2-1 game.
• Holy Cross led in shots, 13-7, after the first period.
• Reilly lengthened the Crusaders' lead early on in the second period at the 0:14 mark. Receiving the puck from junior Izzy Bagi (Branford, Conn.) at center ice, Reilly performed a loose puck deke, beating a Castleton defender and stick handling the puck to the low slot to score her second stick side backhand goal of the night.

• At 7:40, Bagi nearly furthered the lead. On the defensive end, she won the puck, taking it coast-to-coast to Castleton's right faceoff circle before hitting a wrist shot just wide of the net.
• Holy Cross outshot Castleton 9-6 in the second period.
• At the 16:50 mark in the third period, Salatas made a save to maintain the two-goal lead. Taylor Steadman made a steal for Castleton, which put her in a one-on-one scenario. On her shot around the Holy Cross defender, Salatas made a glove save to prevent the goal.
• With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Castleton pulled its goaltender for the extra skater advantage. Freshman Tori Messina (Hingham, Mass.) won the puck, sending a pass to sophomore Lauren Abbenante (Cranston, R.I.) from behind the blue line. Abbenante passed the puck into the empty net with 27 seconds left to secure the 4-1 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Salatas stopped 20 shots for the Crusaders, and allowed one goal to earn the win in net.
• Cameron made 26 saves and allowed three goals for 58:15, and the Crusaders posted an additional empty net goal.
• Holy Cross outshot Castleton 30-21.
• Castleton went 0-for-1 on the only power play of the game.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Salatas improves to 9-0-0 on the season with tonight's victory. She is the first Crusaders in program history to win her first nine starts.
• The Crusaders have now won 12 games in a row, the team's longest winning streak since 2009.
• Abbenante has notched at least one point in her last four games.
• Reilly earned her first two collegiate goals tonight.
• O'Donnell's tally in the first period was her first of the season.
• Holy Cross is now 9-0-0 at the Hart Center this season.

UP NEXT:

• The Crusaders will be back in action on tomorrow, Saturday, January 30 when they travel to Saint Michael's for their game at 1:00 p.m.

STAY CONNECTED:

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