SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team secured its first win of the season with a conference victory over four-time defending Atlantic Hockey champion American International College, 7-3, on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at the MassMutual Center.
Sophomore forward Liam McLinskey had a hat trick for the Crusaders (1-4-0, 1-2-0 Atlantic Hockey), while junior forward Jack Ricketts had three points on a pair of goals and an assist.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- McLinskey tipped the puck into the net off an initial shot from junior forward Tyler Ghirardosi at 8:00 of the first period.
- At 17:46 of the first, Ricketts notched his first goal of the season with assists from senior forward Grayson Constable and freshman defenseman Mack Oliphant.
- Senior forward Alex Peterson kicked off a 5-on-3 opportunity by scoring at 11:08 of the second period off of a faceoff win by junior forward Lucas Thorne to open the power play.
- Just 33 seconds later, freshman forward Matt DeBoer notched the second power-play goal of the game with assists from junior forward Matt Guerra and Ricketts to bring the score to 4-0.
- The Yellow Jackets (2-2-2, 2-1-0 Atlantic Hockey) found the back of the net at 15:09 of the second period when Blake Bennett scored on a power play.
- Just 1:26 into the third period, McLinskey intercepted the puck from AIC and fired a shot past AIC goaltender Jarrett Fiske.
- AIC's second goal of the evening came at 1:45 of the third period when Nicholas Cardelli shot past junior goaltender Jason Grande.
- Ricketts scored his second goal of the night with under four minutes to go in the game; AIC's Dustin Manz answered shortly thereafter with a goal of his own to make it 6-3 with 2:29 left in regulation.
- McLinskey secured the hat trick with an empty-netter with 16.1 seconds to go.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- McLinskey's opening goal marked the first goal of his collegiate career.
- McLinskey's hat trick marks the program's first since Dec. 30, 2017 when Michael Laffin scored three goals against Sacred Heart.
- The last time the Crusaders scored seven goals in a game was when they downed Mercyhurst, 7-2, on Jan. 4, 2020.
UP NEXT:
- The Crusaders will travel to face the University of Vermont on Saturday, Oct. 22 in a nonconference matchup.
- Puck drop in Burlington is set for 7 p.m.
FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS
Be sure to follow the Holy Cross men's ice hockey team — and all things Crusader Athletics — on social media!
Twitter - @HCrossMHockey | @goholycross
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