WORCESTER, Mass. — The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team defeated Air Force Academy, 4-1, in Atlantic Hockey Association action Sunday night at the Hart Center.
 
Air Force falls to 6-14-2 (2-9-1 AHA), while the Crusaders improve to 7-13-2 (6-7-1 AHA).
 
THE GOALTENDERS:

• Crusaders: junior Jason Grande - 6-3-1, 17 saves, .944 save percentage.
• Falcons: Austin Park – 0-2-0, 28 saves, .875 save percentage.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Junior Matt Guerra opened the scoring with a power play goal just under three minutes into the contest. Alex Peterson got the Air Force defense to bite on a shot fake, leaving Guerra alone in the middle of the ice, where he sent a one-timer past Park.
• Liam McLinskey followed suit with a power play goal of his own with just under three minutes remaining in the frame. Senior Nick Hale dropped a pass back to McLinskey at the blue line, which he fired past Park.
• In the second period, Hale sent a stretch pass to senior Grayson Constable, finding him in stride giving him a breakaway chance on a penalty kill. Park made the initial save before Constable collected the rebound and snuck it past him.
• Freshman Devin Phillips scored the final goal for the Crusaders on a power play with just over four minutes left to play in the third. Matt Shatsky sent a shot in from the blue line that deflected off the post and onto Phillips' stick, setting him up for a one-timer, which he sent into the back of the net.
• Air Force scored their lone goal with 29 seconds to play on an unassisted strike by Will Gavin.

BEYOND THE BOX:

• Holy Cross held a 34-32 edge at the faceoff dot.
• The Crusaders held the Falcons to 0-for-five on the man-up advantage, and only allowed six shots during those five penalty kills.
• Hale recorded three assists on the night, giving him a total of six helpers over the two-game set.
• Holy Cross is now 6-0 against Air Force under head coach Bill Riga.

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross will head to Fairfield, Conn. for a two-game set with second-place Sacred Heart on Friday, Jan. 20 and Saturday, Jan. 21.
• Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. both days.

FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 
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Twitter - @HCrossMHockey | @goholycross
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