WORCESTER, Mass. – Paced by a three-point night by senior alternate captain Ryan Leibold and a late game-winning tally from sophomore center Matt Guerra, the Holy Cross men's ice hockey team defeated the University of Vermont, 4-3, on Tuesday, Jan. 4 at the Hart Center Rink.

In a back-and-forth evening, the Crusaders (5-13-1) and Catamounts (3-13-2) were tied 2-2 after a busy first 10 minutes of action; after Vermont took a 3-2 lead, Holy Cross tied things up late in the second before Guerra scored with under seven minutes to go to secure the victory.

Four different Crusaders scored on the night, including freshman right wing Liam Connors, who notched his first collegiate goal. Freshman goaltender Thomas Gale made 27 saves, including 10 saves in the third while holding Vermont scoreless over the final 20 minutes.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Vermont got on the board just 10 seconds into the contest after a goal from Robbie Stucker.
• Connors evened things up at 5:26 of the first, and Leibold scored just 41 seconds later to give the Crusaders a 2-1 advantage.
• Philip Lagunov made it a 2-2 game at 10:33 of the first on a power-play tally. Vermont regained the lead at 9:45 of the second after a goal from Andrew Lucas.
• Senior alternate captain Anthony Vincent scored his first goal of the season to make it a 3-3 game with 1:27 left in the second. 
• Guerra broke the deadlock at 13:14 of the third with a power-play goal.
• With an extra attacker, Vermont rang a shot off the pipe with under 40 seconds to go; Gale and the Crusaders held off a late flurry to secure the victory.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Leibold's three-point night extended his team-leading point total to 18 points on the season.
• Gale assisted on Leibold's goal; his assist is the second goalie assist for the Crusaders of the 2021-22 season, as junior Matt Radomsky also had an assist against Niagara on Dec. 4.
• This is the first win over Vermont in Holy Cross history; this also marks Holy Cross' first win over a Hockey East opponent this season and first since defeating No. 6/7 Providence on Oct. 11, 2019.

UP NEXT:

• The Crusaders return to action with a home weekend series against American International College.
• Holy Cross hosts AIC at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 8 before rounding out the weekend at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 9.