WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team is set to travel to Atlantic Hockey foe Niagara for a two-game series on Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16 at Dwyer Arena. Friday's game is set for 7 p.m., while Saturday's game is set for 5 p.m. Both games will stream live on FloHockey.

THE CRUSADERS (4-7-0, 3-3-0 AHA):

• Holy Cross enters the weekend following a weekend split with AIC last week.
• On Thursday, the Crusaders defeated AIC, 5-2. On Friday, Holy Cross fell at the hands of a last-minute goal by the Yellowjackets.
• Senior Liam McLinskey led the squad with four points over the weekend on two goals and two assists, including the Crusaders' first shorthanded strike of the season on Saturday. Eight other Crusaders also picked up at least a point in the series.
• Senior Thomas Gale recorded 24 saves on Thursday night, following up the performance with 33 saves on Friday. Friday marked his sixth 30+ save performance in his 11 starts this season.
• Following the first month of play, Gale was announced as the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Month for October. In seven games, Gale held opponents to three or fewer goals in six of the Crusaders' games in the month. Gale's then-season high 34 saves came in the Crusaders' 4-3 win over UConn on Oct. 11, and he posted 25+ saves in five of the seven matchups.
• Through the first month of the season, Gale posted a 3-4-0 record with a 2.47 goals-against average and .918 save percentage and boasted a 1.78 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in conference play.
• Holy Cross' kill percentage of 86.4% is good for 17th in the country, posting a 38-for-44 mark.
• On the other side, the Crusaders have converted on 16.7% of their power play opportunities, which ranks 39th nationally.
• McLinskey and junior Michael Abgrall lead the Crusaders in points through the first 11 games of the season with nine each. Senior Matt Shatsky, junior Lachlan Getz, and sophomore Ty Gagno are all tied for the team-lead with 14 blocked shots each.

SCOUTING NIAGARA (5-4-2, 4-2-1 AHA):

• Niagara enters the contest with a 5-4-2 overall record and an Atlantic Hockey-leading 4-2-1 conference record.
• Niagara's 38 goals so far this season is the third-most nationally, behind only no. 1 Denver and no. 3 Minnesota.
• Niagara split its series with Army last weekend. On Friday, the Purple Eagles were shutout by the Black Knights, 1-0, before flipping the script Saturday night by shutting out the Black Knights 2-0.
• Niagara returns 15 players from last season's roster, adding seven freshmen and six transfers. With an average age of 23.0 years old, AIC is tied with Canisius for the oldest team in Division I hockey this season.
• Senior forward Shane Ott leads the Purple Eagles with 14 points through 11 games. Senior Lars Rødne leads the team with six goals, while Ott leads the team with 11 assists.

ALL TIME SERIES:

• The two teams have met 39 times, with the Crusaders leading the all-time series 22-13-4.
• This weekend marks the first time that the Crusaders have traveled to Niagara since Jan 10-11, 2020. The Crusaders won the first night before playing to a tie on night two.
• The two teams faced off last season for a two-game set on Dec. 1 and 2, 2023. Niagara won the first night, 3-2 in overtime, before the Crusaders won 4-1 on night two.
• Five current Crusaders recorded assists in the series, led by sophomore Jack Stockfish, who finished the weekend with three helpers.

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
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