WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team couldn't hold off American International College, falling by a score of 5-2 on Sunday, Jan. 9 at the Hart Center Rink.

Sophomore right wing Jack Ricketts scored a pair of goals less than two minutes apart, briefly giving the Crusaders (5-15-1, 3-8-1 AHA) a 2-1 lead with 10 seconds left in the first, but AIC (8-9-1, 8-4-0 AHA) used a three-goal second period to pull away.

Junior defenseman Nick Hale had a pair of assists for the Crusaders. Senior Erik Gordon made 28 stops in net for Holy Cross, including 22 over the final two frames.

The Yellow Jackets had five different goal scorers on the evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Blake Bennett opened the scoring for AIC at 17:13 of the first with a power-play goal.
• Ricketts scored a pair of goals just 2:02 apart, first an even-strength tally at 17:48 followed by a power-play goal at 19:50 of the first.
• AIC evened things up with a power-play goal at 7:50 of the second, and took a 3-2 lead just 1:20 later. Parker Revering added a goal for the Yellow Jackets at 15:54 of the second, building a 4-2 lead.
• Luka Maver notched an empty-netter with 1:23 left to extend the lead to 5-2 for AIC.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Ricketts' two-goal showing marked the first multi-goal contest of his career.

UP NEXT:

• The Crusaders round out a seven-game homestand with a weekend series against Canisius.
• Holy Cross will host the Golden Griffins on Friday, Jan. 14 and Saturday, Jan. 15 at the Hart Center Rink. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. both nights.