WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team is set to travel to AIC for their final series of the first half at the Mass Mutual Center on Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7. Both games are set for 1 p.m. and will stream live on FloHockey.

THE CRUSADERS (7-8-1, 6-4-1 AHA):

• Holy Cross will travel to AIC on Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7 for their final weekend series of the first half of the season.
• The Crusaders swept Atlantic Hockey rival Sacred Heart last weekend, earning six points in the standings thanks to a 6-1 win on Friday and 4-1 win on Saturday.
• Holy Cross earned three Player of the Week honors following the weekend set: sophomore defenseman Will Elias was recognized as the league's Defenseman of the Week, senior goaltender Thomas Gale was named Goaltender of the Week, and freshman forward Owen Kim earned Rookie of the Week honors.
• Elias scored his first two collegiate goals over the weekend series to help the Crusaders out-score Sacred Heart 10-2 over the two-game set. Elias' scored his first collegiate goal on Friday night to put the Crusaders up 2-0 in the first period, which stood as the game-winning goal. On Saturday night, Elias scored his second career goal to tie the game at 1-1 in the first and spark a 4-0 scoring run for Holy Cross. Elias finished the weekend with three blocked shots and a +1 rating.
• Gale finished the weekend with 67 saves, 1.00 goals-against average, and a .971 save percentage, allowing just two goals over the two games. His 32 saves on Friday and 35 saves on Saturday marked the eighth and ninth games this season where he has recorded 30+ saves.
• Kim recorded two assists in Friday's 6-1 win, picking up the primary helper on Elias' game winner and the Crusaders' fifth goal of the night in the third period. Kim finished the weekend with a +1 rating, three faceoff wins, and a blocked shot.
• Senior Liam McLinskey earned Atlantic Hockey Forward of the Month honors for November, thanks to his NCAA-leading seven game goal-streak, which began on Nov. 7 against AIC.
• McLinskey found his stride in November, recording at least one goal in all but two of the team's nine games in the month. McLinskey finished the month with eleven points on eight goals and three assists and carries an NCAA-leading seven-game scoring streak into December. On the season, McLinskey's 10 goals are tied for the AHA lead and tied for third nationally. In addition, his 16 points are tied for third in Atlantic Hockey and tied for 21st in the nation. With his goal on Saturday against Sacred Heart, McLinskey became the nation's leading active goal scorer with 50 career tallies.
• Junior Devin Phillips carries the NCAA's third-longest point streak into the weekend, having tallied 11 points on three goals and eight assists since Oct. 20 against Army.
• Holy Cross' kill percentage of 89.7% leads Atlantic Hockey and ranks sixth in the nation, posting a 61-for-68 success mark.
• On the other side, the Crusaders have converted on 18.2% of their power play opportunities, which ranks 34th nationally.
   

SCOUTING AIC (5-10-1, 4-6-0 AHA):

• AIC enters the contest in eighth place in Atlantic Hockey with 13 points and a 4-6-0 record in conference play.
• AIC split their weekend set with Robert Morris last weekend, falling in Friday's matchup, 4-1, before winning on Saturday, 4-2.
• Forward Josh Barnes was the only athlete in Atlantic Hockey not on the Holy Cross roster to earn a weekly award this week. Barnes was named the league's forward of the week thanks to his natural hat trick in Saturday night's win.
• Timofei Khokhlachev leads the Yellow Jackets with 11 points and is tied with Barnes for the team lead in goals with seven. Netminder Adam Manji's .921 save percentage, and 2.30 goals-against average leads the team's goalkeepers in both categories.
   

ALL TIME SERIES:

• The two teams have met 119 times, with the Crusaders leading the all-time series, 63-44-12.
• The teams last met a month ago in Worcester, with Holy Cross taking a 5-2 victory on Thursday, Nov. 7, and AIC winning Friday, Nov.8's matchup 3-2 thanks to a last-minute goal by the Yellow Jackets.
• In Thursday's game, the Crusaders benefited from five different goal scorers. Led by senior Liam McLinskey, who recorded three points on a goal and an assist, while senior Matt Shatsky and juniors Michael Abgrall and Jack Seymour recorded two points each.
• On Friday, McLinskey and senior Michael Hodge scored their second goals of the weekend.
• Senior netminder Thomas Gale recorded 57 saves over the two game set.
• Holy Cross is 4-5-1 in their last ten matchups dating at the Mass Mutual Center against AIC dating back to the 2020-21 season. In those ten matchups, five have been decided by two or fewer goals.

 
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