WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team defeated Canisius, 4-3, Friday night at the Hart Center Rink to take a 1-0 lead in the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal round.
 
Canisius broke the ice 11:23 into the first period with a goal by Max Kouznetsov, which proved to be the only tally of the frame. Holy Cross ultimately held the edge in shots, 10-8, though were unable to find the back of the net.
 
The Crusaders were called for interference at the 16:44 mark of the second period, though a turnover forced by junior Liam McLinskey and a perfect pass to senior Jack Ricketts led to a tie game after the shorthanded strike.
 
The tie did not last long as Kouznetsov netted his second of the game just over a minute later on the same power play opportunity to regain the lead at 2-1. The Golden Griffins extended the lead to 3-1 on a goal by Trey Funk with 6:11 to go in the period.
 
Junior Matt Shatsky picked up his second goal of the season to cut the Canisius lead in half with 4:19 to go in the middle frame, sending the game to the third period with the score 3-2 Canisius. Receiving a pass from freshman Jack Stockfish at the right faceoff dot, Shatsky walked the blue line before unleashing a wrist shot from the middle of the ice that the Golden Griffins goaltender never saw coming.
 
McLinskey scored a goal of his own to tie the game at 3-3 with 10:58 to go in the final period of regulation. Stopping the puck just before it left the zone, senior Jake Higgins sent the puck on net, where the save ricocheted off the Canisius goaltenders' pads to the back wall. Sophomore Jack Seymour won the foot race to the puck, wrapping around the net before dropping the puck off to an open McLinskey for the quick lifted shot.
 
Drawing a holding penalty shortly after, the Crusaders went on the power play with 10:42 remaining in the period. Passing around the zone, all five Holy Cross players on the ice touched the puck before Stockfish sent a one-timer from McLinskey towards the net that found it's way through the Canisius netminder for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
 
The Crusaders successfully killed off 2:09 of six-on-five hockey after the Golden Griffins pulled their goaltender in favor of the extra attackman.

Senior netminder Jason Grande 25 saves in the win, while Canisius' David Fessenden posted 42 in the loss.
 
The two teams will meet again tomorrow, Saturday, March 9, at 7 p.m. for game two of the quarterfinal series. With a win, the Crusaders would advance to the Atlantic Hockey Semifinals, held March 15-17. Should Canisius win, the two teams will meet for a win-or-go-home tie breaker on Sunday, March 10 at 6 p.m.
 
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