WORCESTER, Mass. - The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team will open its Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament when it hosts Canisius for the quarterfinal round. The best-of-three series is set for Friday, March 8, Saturday, March 9, and, if necessary, Sunday, March 10 at the Hart Center Rink. 
 
Friday and Saturday's matchups are set for 7 p.m., with the if needed tie-breaking game on Sunday at 6 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on FloSports, while Friday and Sunday's games will be simulcast regionally on NESN+.   

Holy Cross finished the regular season with a 18-12-4 overall record, while going 13-10-3 in conference play, good for the no. 2 seed in the Atlantic Hockey tournament. The Crusaders have won seven of their last eight games, while finishing February with a 4-1 record. 
 
Junior Liam McLinskey finished the regular season with an Atlantic Hockey-best 40 points on 15 goals and 25 assists. Senior Jack Ricketts finished the regular season with a share of second place on the goals leaderboard with 18, while junior defenseman Matt Shatsky is tied for tenth in assists with 19. Senior netminder Jason Grande holds a team-best 10-4-2 record and a league-leading 2.06 goals-against average and .929 save percentage. Junior Thomas Gale finished the regular season with the league's third highest save percentage at .917, and the fifth-best goals-against average at 2.41.

Canisius, the reigning Atlantic Hockey champions, finished the regular season with an 11-19-4 overall record and a 10-12-4 conference record, taking the no. 8 seed in the tournament after going 2-4-1 in the final month of the regular season.
 
The Golden Griffins faced no. 9 seeded Mercyhurst in the Atlantic Hockey First Round last Saturday, March 2, winning 5-2 at home to earn a spot in the quarterfinal round. Kyle Haskins and Powell Connor enter the quarterfinal weekend as the reigning Atlantic Hockey Player and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, following their outings against Mercyhurst.

Canisius is led on offense by Matteo Giampa, who carries 34 points on 18 goals and 16 assists into the playoff series. Netminder David Fessenden holds a team-best 7-10-4 record and 2.14 goals-against average, while Ethan Robertson leads with a .900 save percentage.

The Crusaders enter the matchup 9-3-1 against Atlantic Hockey opponents since the turn of the calendar, while the Golden Griffins went 4-6-1 in the same frame.

All time, the Crusaders are 37-28-12 against the Golden Griffins, including a 3-2-0 mark in tournament play. The two teams met in November this year in Buffalo, N.Y. with Canisius taking the first night's matchup, 5-2, followed by a 3-3 tie and subsequent shootout win by Holy Cross the second night. Despite the commanding lead in the all-time series, the Crusaders are 1-6-3 in the last ten meetings between the two teams.

The winner of the series will move on to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals next weekend, March 15-17.

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