WORCESTER, Mass. — The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team defeated No. 19/18 RIT, 4-3, in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday night at the Hart Center Rink.
With the win, the Crusaders improve to 8-15-3 (7-9-2 AHA), while the Tigers fall to 18-7-1 (14-3-1).
THE GOALTENDERS:
- Crusaders: junior Jason Grande – 7-4-1, 15 saves, .898 save percentage.
- Tigers: Tommy Scarfone – 16-5-1, 23 saves, .920 save percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- RIT got on the board first on a strike by Caleb Moritz.
- Senior Nick Hale recorded his seventh point of the month, tying the game at one apiece just over halfway through the period. Senior Jack MacNab passed the puck to freshman Joe Solimine behind the net, who found Hale alone on the left side. Hale then shot the puck into the top right corner of the net, past Scarfone.
- The two teams played even in the second period, before junior Tyler Ghirardosi broke the 1-1 tie on a goal with 11 seconds remaing in the frame. Senior Grayson Constable sent the puck into the offensive zone where senior Bobby Young collected the dump-in in the corner. Young passed it to an open Ghirardosi in front of the net, who spun past Scarfone to put the Crusaders up 2-1.
- RIT's Carter Wilkie tied the game at 2 just under three minutes into the third period.
- Freshman Devin Phillips found himself in the right place at the right time to put the Crusaders up 3-2 with a power play goal at the 12:11 mark of the third period. Sophomore Matt Shatsky passed the puck to junior Jack Ricketts at the blue line, which Ricketts sent on net. The rebound off of Scarfone's pads went to a wide-open Phillips, who sent the puck into the open net.
- Dimitri Mikrogiannakis tied the game for the Tigers with 1:42 left to play in regulation.
- In overtime, Ricketts stopped a rush by RIT's Carter Wilkie, collecting the puck and out-skating the Tigers' defenseman that was on him, creating a breakaway opportunity with 2:48 remaining in the extra frame. Ricketts got Scarfone to commit to a low shot before sending the puck into the top left corner for the win.
BEYOND THE BOX:
- The Crusaders went 1-for-4 on the power play, while holding the Tigers to 0-for-3 with 0 shots.
- Holy Cross out-shot RIT 27-18.
- RIT held the edge at the faceoff dot, 42-15.
THREE STARS:
UP NEXT:
- Holy Cross heads to Waltham, Mass. to face Bentley University on Friday, Feb. 3, and Saturday, Feb. 4.
- Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, and 4 p.m. on Saturday.
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
Instagram - @hcrossmhockey | @goholycross
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