WORCESTER, Mass.- The Holy Cross women's ice hockey team will play an away-home series against No. 10 UConn on Friday, Nov. 1, and Saturday, Nov. 2. The nationally ranked Huskies will host the Crusaders for game one a 6 p.m. puck drop at the Toscano Family Ice Forum. Holy Cross will return home for the final game of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Hart Center Rink. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (4-3-1, 1-2-1 Hockey East): 

• The Crusaders most recently took on No. 13 Northeastern on Oct. 18 and 19. Holy Cross hosted game one and came out with a 4-4 tie and the shootout loss. The Huskies took game two 4-2 of the series.
• In game one, the Crusaders took a 1-0 lead at 8:13 in the first period with a goal scored by junior forward Lane Lewis assisted by junior assistant captain Alexia Moreau and freshman forward Amanda Aslan.
• The Huskies responded in the second period with the equalizer at 1:22 and stole the lead at 18:58 on a power-play goal.
• An action-packed third period began with sophomore assistant captain Emily Crovo pick-pocketing a Northeastern player and driving the puck to the back of the net at 3:26 to tie the game 2-2. Senior forward Mackenzie King netted her first goal of the season at 7:17 from the blue line sent over by Aslan. Crovo then extended the lead to 4-2 at 13:08 assisted by sophomore forward Reghan Chadwick and senior captain Emma Min. Northeastern's last-ditch effort paid off when they pulled the goalie and scored at 17:15 to get within one. A minute and a half later and Northeastern tied the score 4-4 to send the game into overtime.
• A scoreless overtime led to 4-4 tie. The Huskies won the shootout 2-1 to earn the extra point in Hockey East play.
• In game two, neither team scored in the first period.
• In the second period, sophomore Lulu Rourke netted a putback goal for the 1-0 lead at 16:13. She was assisted by King and freshman defender Sarah Rowe.
• In the third period, the Huskies went on a two-goal run within three minutes of one another to take the lead over the Crusaders. Goals scored by Lauren Shannon and Ella Blackmore. Lily Brazis furthered Northeastern's lead with another goal at 12:36. Junior forward Charlotte Sonntag netted her the Crusaders' second goal of the game to bring Holy Cross within one at 16:36. She was assisted by Chadwick and Crovo. The Crusaders pulled their goalie in an effort to tie the game but the Huskies managed an empty net goal with 51 seconds left in the period to secure the 4-2 victory.
• Crovo is currently Holy Cross's leading scorer with five goals on the year, two of which were on the power-play. Chadwick has the most assists on the team with four so far. The pair are tied with the six points each. Min leads the Crusaders defense with 25 blocks so far this season.
• Junior assistant captain and goalie Brooke Loranger was between the pipes for both games with fellow junior goalie Abby Hornung making a short appearance in game two of the series. Loranger made 31 saves in game one and made 27 saves in game two. Hornung had two saves in net to conclude the second game. Loranger now has 2.47 goals against with a .912 save percentage.

HINTS ON THE HUSKIES (4-4-0, 3-0-0 HE):

• The Huskies ended the 2023-24 campaign with a 25-8-5 overall record and a 19-4-4 conference record. UConn took home the Hockey East Championship victory over No.13/#2-seeded Northeastern 1-0 in overtime on Mar. 9 to earn the NCAA bid. The Huskies concluded the season in the NCAA Regional, losing 1-0 in double overtime to Minnesota Duluth on Mar. 14. 
• Ahead of the 2024-25 season, UConn was tabbed to finish first in Hockey East according to the Preseason Coaches Poll. The Huskies return three All-Conference selections, four of their top five leading scorers, two of their top five strongest defenders, and all their three active goalies. UConn welcomes six new Huskies, five freshman and one graduate transfers to complete their roster for the year.
• UConn has been nationally ranked in the No. 9/10 spot for the first four weeks of the season. The Huskies have begun the year with a 4-4-0 overall record and 3-0-0 conference record after recently splitting the Oct. 18/19 weekend with Providence and non-conference Harvard. No. 10 UConn took game one 3-2 over the Friars and lost game two 1-0 to the Crimson.
• In game one, No. 10 UConn got on the board with a goal in the first period scored by sophomore forward Ashley Allard at 6:13 assisted by senior forward Riley Grimley and sophomore defender Maya Serdachny. 
• The Huskies netted another goal just 35 seconds into the second period scored by junior forward Megan Woodworth assisted by Brianna Ware and junior defender Emma Eryou. Providence responded with a goal at 14:18 to cut the Huskies lead in half. The Friars netted the equalizer with 13 seconds left in the period.
• All tied 2-2 entering the final frame, sophomore forward Martha Mobarak notched the game-winner at 2:47 to give UConn the 3-2 victory. Mobarak was assisted by forwards Livvy Dewar and Sadie Hotles.
• After two scoreless periods in game two, Harvard found the lone goal of the game converting on the power-play 52 seconds into the third period for the 1-0 win.
• Freshman forward Claire Murdoch currently resides as the Huskies leading scorer with three goals on the season. Senior defender Ava Rinker leads UConn with the most assist (6) and the most blocks (17) so far this year.
• Senior goalies Megan Warrener and Tia Chan have split time in the net for UConn, each playing in four games a piece. Along with splitting time, the pair also split the weekend between the pipes. Chan started in net for the Providence goal making 28 saves and earning the win. She owns a 2.00 goals against average and .931 save percentage. Warrener was in goal for the Harvard game making 18 saves for a current 2.03 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.

LAST TIME THEY MET:

• Holy Cross and UConn met last season. The Crusaders traveled to the No. 11/#1-seeded Huskies for the Hockey East Quarterfinal on Mar. 3. UConn took home the won 4-2 win to knock Holy Cross out of the tournament. Notable goals from the Crusaders came from now-graduated Lilly Feeney and current sophomore forward Reghan Chadwick.
• The Crusaders hold a 6-17-0 all-time and 1-17-0 conference series record against the Huskies.

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