SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team defeated AIC in overtime, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the MassMutual Center to advance to the Atlantic Hockey Association semifinal round for the first time since the 2010-2011 season.

Sophomore Liam McLinskey opened the scoring 4:34 into the first period, picking up his first of the game, fourth of the series, and first first period goal for either team in the entire series. Freshman Devin Phillips picked up the puck behind the Crusaders goal, finding McLinskey in the neutral zone. McLinskey sent a bump pass to senior Alex Peterson in the middle, who skated into the offensive zone. Having nowhere to go, Peterson fed McLinskey in the middle of the ice where he roofed a one-timer past the Yellowjacket's Jarrett Fiske. AIC responded two minutes later on a strike by Brett Rylance. 

The Crusaders drew the lone penalty of the first period with just under six minutes remaining in the frame. Phillips buried the first shot of the man-up advantage just 25 seconds in. Junior Alec Cicero collected the puck on the left side of the net, finding sophomore Matt Shatsky at the blue line. Shatsky promptly sent a pass across the ice to Phillips, who sent the long one-timer past Fiske to give the Crusaders a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission.

AIC's Blake Bennett tied the game at 2-2 just over three minutes into the second period. The game remained knotted up until junior Tyler Ghirardosi picked up the second power play goal of the game for the Crusaders. Peterson won the offensive zone faceoff straight back to junior Matt Guerra at the blue line. Guerra, with no defender on him, sent the puck towards the net where an open Ghirardosi was able to redirect it past Fiske.

With just over three minutes remaining in regulation, the Yellowjackets drew two penalties and the opportunity to skate in a five-on-three situation. Blake Bennett picked up his second of the game, tying the contest and forcing the overtime period.

The two teams skated even for the majority of the overtime frame. The Crusaders held the slim edge in shots, 13-9, and both teams picked up a power play opportunity. With just 1:14 remaining in the extra frame, McLinskey buried the game winning and series winning score. In an attempt to clear the puck out of the zone, an AIC defenseman lifted the puck towards a waiting McLinskey at the blue line, who was able to glove the puck and drop it in front of him. After making a move around the defender in front of him, McLinskey passed the puck across to Peterson, who sent a shot towards Fiske that was saved. Fiske's rebound, however, bounced right onto McLinskey's stick, where he was able to tap the puck past the sprawled out netminder.

Junior netminder Jason Grande finished the afternoon with 27 saves and the win, while Fiske posted 48 in the loss.

With the win, the Crusaders earned the right to travel to No. 1-seeded RIT next weekend for the AHA semifinals. Game one and two, on Friday, March 10, and Saturday, March 11, are set for 7 p.m., while the if necessary game three on Sunday, March 12, would be played at 5 p.m. 

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