WORCESTER, Mass. – Men's ice hockey completed its sweep of Canisius with a 2-1 double overtime win on Saturday night at the Hart Center Rink to advance to the Atlantic Hockey semifinal round.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Golden Griffins got on the board 9:15 into the first period.
• Battling along the boards, freshman Ty Gagno made a quick pass to senior Lucas Thorne. Thorne skated the puck to the top of the left faceoff circle, finding senior Jack Robilotti open at the right point. Robilotti drifted to the top of the faceoff circle before unleashing a wrist shot on the net that was tipped by a Canisius defender just enough to divert it through the netminder's legs and into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1 with 12:09 remaining in the middle frame.
• Neither team was able to score in the third period that saw the Crusaders kill off two Canisius power plays.
• The Crusaders came out firing in the first overtime period, outshooting the Golden Griffins, 14-3, while killing off two power play opportunities.
• After being released from the penalty box following the sixth successful penalty kill of the night 1:25 into the second overtime, sophomore Jack Seymour found the back of the net 2:53 into the second extra frame to lift the Crusaders past the Golden Griffins and into the semifinal round. Senior Jack Ricketts chased the puck into the corner, finding a way to tap it to junior Liam McLinskey. McLinskey skated behind the net, taking the defenseman with him, before dropping a backhand pass to Seymour unmarked on the post. Thinking McLinskey still had the puck, the Canisius netminder leaned to the right to follow him behind the net, giving Seymour the entire left side of the net for the lifted shot.

 
BEYOND THE BOX:

• Senior Jason Grande recorded 38 saves in the win, while Canisius' Ethan Robertson finished with 40 saves in the loss.
• Holy Cross killed off all six power play opportunities that Canisius was awarded.
• Ricketts paced both sides with 22 faceoff wins, while the Crusaders held the edge overall, 52-40.
• The Crusaders will host the Atlantic Hockey Semifinals next weekend for the first time since the 2005-2006 season.

 
UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross will host #5 AIC for the semifinal round, which will be held on March 15-17 at the Hart Center.
• Tickets for the best-of-three series can be purchased at goholycross.com/MIH2024playoffs

 
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