WORCESTER, Mass. - Holy Cross men's ice hockey is set to face Atlantic Hockey rival Sacred Heart in a home-and-home series on Friday, Jan. 19 in Fairfield, Conn., and Saturday, Jan. 20 in Worcester, Mass. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. on both nights.
 
Friday's matchup will stream on both FloHockey and SNY, while Saturday's game will stream on both FloHockey and NESN+. Saturday's matchup will serve as the team's Season Ticket Member Appreciation Night. For more information, please visit www.goholycross.com/promotions.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (11-10-4, 6-8-3 ATLANTIC HOCKEY):

• Holy Cross split their weekend against Army last weekend, falling on Friday, 0-3, before taking Saturday's matchup, 3-1.
• Junior Matt Shatsky skated in his 100th game and picked up two assists on Saturday. Shatsky's 14 assists this season leads all defensemen and is the second-highest mark on the team. Senior Jake Higgins picked up his fourth goal of the season with the opening score on Saturday, which leads all defensemen.
• Junior netminder Thomas Gale stopped 34 shots on Friday, before tacking on 29 more in Saturday's win. His 34 saves on Friday were four short of his season high.
• Since Nov. 17, the Crusaders are 5-1 in Saturday games. on Fridays during that time frame, Holy Cross is 2-2-2.
• The Crusaders play their best in games decided by two goals, holding a 6-1 record. In games decided by three or more goals, the Crusaders are 4-3. In one goal games this season, Holy Cross is 1-3, and are 0-3-4 in overtime games.
• The PK unit held Army to a 1-for-9 conversion rate over the weekend. The unit's 86.9% kill rate is the fifth-highest mark in the nation, behind only Wisconsin, Boston College, Union, and Quinnipiac.
• Senior Jason Grande and junior Thomas Gale were named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List over the weekend. The Mike Richter Award is presented annually to the best goaltender in NCAA men's hockey by the Hockey Coaches Association. Holy Cross is the only program in the nation to have two goaltenders on the list.
• Grande's 2.14 goals-against average and .924 save percentage ranks him sixth in the country in each category, while Gale's 2.27 goals-against average places him 12th and his .921 save percentage ranks him eighth nationally. Grande leads Atlantic Hockey in goals-against average and is second in save percentage, while Gale sits in third and fourth in the two categories.
• Holy Cross owns the nation's eighth-best scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 2.40 goals per game.
• Junior Liam McLinskey is tied for the Atlantic Hockey lead in points with 24 so far this season. Ricketts is tied for sixth in the league in points with 21 and sits in a tie for fifth in goals with ten. McLinskey and Shatsky sit in fourth and fifth, respectively, on the leader board for assists.

 
SCOUTING SACRED HEART (10-10-2, 10-5-1 ATLANTIC HOCKEY):

• The Pioneers fell to Army in their midweek matchup on Tuesday, 5-3. Army got off to a quick 3-0 lead in the first period, which Sacred Heart was able to cut to 3-2 after the second. It proved to not be enough as each team scored in the third before Army iced the game with an empty net score with 1:28 remaining.
• Sacred Heart returns 17 players this season while adding six freshmen and eight transfers.
• The Pioneers 83.1% penalty kill percentage ranks them 18th in the nation, while their 22.5% power play percentage is tied for the 16th best mark in the country.
• Graduate TJ Walsh leads the team in goals with 11, and points with 22. Sophomore Mitchel Adamson leads in assists with 12.
• Sophomore Chase Clark has started all but five games this season, holding a 2.83 goals-against average and .905 save percentage.

 
LAST TIME THEY MET:

• Holy Cross holds the slight lead in the all-time series, 42-40-6.
• Sacred Heart holds a 9-5-1 record in the last 15 matchups.
• The last time the two teams met was almost exactly a year ago on Jan. 20 and 21, 2023 in Fairfield, Conn. The first night, a 2-2 tie, was decided in a shootout, which the Pioneers won. Sacred Heart also took the second matchup, 4-1.
• The last time the Crusaders defeated the Pioneers was on Feb. 4, 2022. Senior Alec Cicero scored the lone goal in the 1-0 shutout.

            
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