Game Notes

WORCESTER, Mass. - 

Holy Cross to Open the Season
• The Holy Cross women's ice hockey team will open the 2018-19 season at RIT on Sept. 28.
• The Crusaders and Tigers will play a two-game non-conference series.

Recapping the 2017-18 Season
• Last year, the Crusaders went 16-9-3 and with a 4-3 overtime loss to Franklin Pierce in the NEWHA Tournament.
• Holy Cross averaged 4.1 goals per game, while allowing only 1.8.
•The Crusaders had a conversion rate of 30% on the power play and kept their opponents to a rate of 9.9%.
•The squad was balanced throughout all three periods of play, scoring 39 goals in the first and second periods and 36 in the third.

Inaugural Season in Hockey East
• This will be Holy Cross' first season as a Division I program and first as a member of Hockey East.
• In the preseason poll, the Crusaders were ranked tenth out of ten teams in the conference. Boston College, Northeastern, and Maine claimed the top three spots respectively.
• The team faced a few Division I opponents last season, losing to New Hampshire, Dartmouth, and Harvard, but also claiming a 2-0 win over the Crimson in Worcester.

Who's Returning
• Twenty-one Crusaders return for the 2018-19 season.
• Two of the squads' three top scorers from last season will be back .
• Senior Maeve Reilly is the top returning scorer as she had eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points last season.
• Senior Julie Matthias, who had 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points, will be back as well.
• Sophomore Julia Pelletier and junior Marcia LaPlante split time in goal last season and both will be returning for another go.

Fresh Faces
• Holy Cross welcomes eight new memebers to the Crusader family this year, including seven freshmen and one junior transfer. 
• Catherine Luciano, Skye Ziehwein, Sommer Ross, Carlie Magier, and junior transfer from Boston College Rachel Moore will be additions to the forwards.
• Emma Lange will contribute to the defensive core and Sarah Street and Jada Brenon will vie for time between the pipes.

Crusader Captains
• Holy Cross will be led this season by senior captains Julie Matthias, Tori Messina, and Sam Girard.
• Their 2017-18 stat lines are as follows:
                    • Matthias: 11-15-26
                    • Messina: 8-11-19
                    • Girard: 4-14-18

Scouting the Tigers
• RIT finished last season 4-28-3 and went 1-19-0 in the CHA.
• The Tigers return all three of their top scorers from last season,  seniors Kendall Cornine (11-5-16) and Mallory Rushton (4-10-14), and sophomore Brittany Gout (4-9-13).
• Chad Davis is in his first season as head coach of RIT  after being hired on Aug. 22, 2018. These games against Holy Cross will be his first regular season games with the program. 

Last time against RIT
• The Crusaders and Tigers played two games last season, tying in the first 2-2, with Holy Cross losing the second 3-2. 
• In the tie, Maeve Reilly and Katie MacCuaig scored the goals with Amanda Kewer, Danielle Doherty, and Julie Matthias all recording assists.
• In the loss, Reilly scored again as did Matthias, while Hannah Gillis and Tori Messina picked up assists. 

Up Next
• The Crusaders start their season with six straight road games, the next of which will be at RPI on Saturday, Oct. 6.

Stay Connected
• Follow the Holy Cross women's hockey team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @HCrossWHockey.