Dear Crusaders, 

Since I last wrote in late January, Holy Cross spirit has elevated to new levels — here are just a few examples:

• A rocking Hart Center during our nationally televised basketball doubleheader win(s) against Boston University (not to mention our viral swimming and diving team making a surprise appearance during a pair of BU free throws!) 
• A record-setting Power of Purple Giving Day in February that raised $3.5 million for the College – of which $1.2 million was raised for Crusader Athletics from our incredible alumni, families and friends, making an immediate impact on our student-athletes' experience
• A raucous St. Patrick's Day crowd for our nationally televised Patriot League Championship Game, which began a whirlwind week for our women's basketball program
• A showdown with the GOAT (greatest-of-all-time) on ABC averaged 3.2 million viewers during women's basketball's NCAA Tournament game versus Iowa and Caitlin Clark. As the first quarter ended 23-21, goholycross.com CRASHED due to overwhelming traffic!

I hope you will take a moment to read more about additional highlights from the past few months below. All eyes are on Holy Cross – an exciting time to be a Crusader!

As our spring seasons wind down, we will soon say "thank you" and "see you later" to some of the greatest student-athletes ever to don the Purple & White. I look forward to honoring them — and many of you — as our campus celebrates Commencement and Reunion Weekend to conclude the academic year. We hope to see many of you there!

All the best and Go Cross Go! 

-Kit Hughes 

PS — I hope that many of you will be able to mark your calendars and join us for our second annual Coaches Road Show from May 14 to 21. Details are below, and for more information, please contact Morgan O'Malley at momalley@holycross.edu. We look forward to connecting with our regional alumni and friends on their home turf!
 

NEWS & UPDATES

COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS:

• The women's basketball team won both the Patriot League regular season and tournament championships. The tournament title was the team's second straight and 13th overall.
• Women's basketball advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time, and posted just the second victory in both program and Patriot League history by defeating Tennessee-Martin 72-45 in the First Four.
• The men's ice hockey team swept two games with Canisius to win its first home Atlantic Hockey Tournament series since 2018. The Crusaders finished in second place in Atlantic Hockey during the regular season and with 20+ wins (21-14-4) for the first time since 2012-13. The team received votes in the USCHO National Poll for seventeen consecutive weeks through the end of the season and in 19 of 20 weeks overall.
• Women's ice hockey won a Hockey East Tournament game for the first time in program history, defeating Boston University 4-2 in the opening round.
• Men's basketball won its opening round game in the Patriot League Tournament with an 84-68 victory at Army, its first Patriot League tournament win since 2019.
• Baseball defeated No. 24 Kansas State 13-10 in 10 innings on Feb. 24.
• Women's lacrosse posted its best start since 1980 and went on an eight-game winning streak earlier this season (the second-longest in program history). The Crusaders have already clinched a spot in the Patriot League postseason, and currently sit at a 10-4 record for their first double-digit win season since 2012.
• Men's and women's swimming and diving combined to break a total of 25 school records at the annual Patriot League Championship. Two first-year divers, Luke Parada and Sarah Grady, qualified and participated in the NCAA Zones diving meet held at Princeton University. 
• The track and field teams have broken numerous school records throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons. Senior Mike Mazzocca broke his own record in the 60m hurdles three times in the indoor season, which currently stands at 7.93 for a second-place finish at the Patriot League Indoor Championship. He later broke his own record in the 110m hurdles (14.06) and was a member of the record-setting 4x100 relay team (41.37). Junior Brian Fennelly broke the heptathlon school record twice during the indoor season (4,903 points). Sophomore Celia Kulis broke the 100m hurdles record (13.92). 
• The women's 4x400m relay team of Kiley Ronan, Haley Murphy, Alex Lusby and Molly O'Connor broke a six-year-old record with a time of 3:47.83 at the New England Championships to clinch first place.
• The men's tennis team defeated Navy 4-3 on April 7, good for its first win over the Midshipmen since Patriot League play began in 1990. During that match, senior Declan O'Flynn picked up his 39th career singles victory, the most on record in the history of the program.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES: 

• Bronagh Power-Cassidy was announced as the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in women's basketball prior to being named Patriot League Tournament MVP. Seniors Janelle Allen and Cara McCormack joined Power-Cassidy on the All-Tournament Team.
• Liam McLinskey was selected as the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year in men's ice hockey, while being one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award — the first top 10 finalist in program history. He was also named an AHCA Second Team East All-American, the first for the Crusaders since joining Atlantic Hockey.
• Caleb Kenney was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year in men's basketball.
• Winter sport athletes combined to earn eight all-conference selections: Liam McLinskey, men's ice hockey, first team; Bronagh Power-Cassidy, women's basketball, first team; Jason Grande, men's ice hockey, second team; Caleb Kenney, men's basketball, second team; Jack Ricketts, men's ice hockey, second team; Janelle Allen, women's basketball, third team; Cara McCormack, women's basketball, third team; Joe Octave, men's basketball, third team. Freshman Jack Stockfish of the men's ice hockey team was an All-Rookie selection. 
• Holy Cross student-athletes earned four Academic All-Patriot League (Chris Barone, men's indoor track and field; Brian Fennelly, men's indoor track and field; Mike Mazzocca, men's indoor track and field; Bronagh Power-Cassidy, women's basketball) and 10 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District (Katie Battagliese, women's swimming and diving; Ginger Berry, women's swimming and diving; Kaitlyn Flanagan, women's basketball; Rory Hess, men's swimming and diving; MaryKate Loveless, women's swimming and diving; Alex Michael, men's swimming and diving; Brendan O'Brien, men's swimming and diving; Bronagh Power-Cassidy, women's basketball; Hunter Sullivan, men's swimming and diving; Greta Walting, women's swimming and diving) selections during the winter sports season.
• C.J. Hanson and Jalen Coker became two of just four Holy Cross student-athletes ever to participate in the NFL Combine in early March — and next week, they will await their fate in the 2024 NFL Draft. No Crusader has been selected in the NFL Draft since 1989.
• Women's basketball assistant coach Paige Corkins was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Thirty Under 30 list.
• Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Medicine Amanda Kelley was named an athletic trainer for the 2024 U.S. women's ice hockey national team.
• Abbie Lane and Katie Russell of the volleyball team participated in the U.S. Women's National Team Open from Feb. 23 to 25. 

OTHER NOTES: 

• The Crusaders placed 127 student-athletes on the Patriot League fall sports Academic Honor Roll, and recognized 316 for achieving a fall GPA of 3.5 or higher (294 Dean's List) at a home basketball game on February 21.
• We retired the first two ice hockey jerseys in program history this winter, with Crusader Legends Patrick Rissmiller '02 and Stacey Hochkins '12 having their jerseys raised to the Hart Center Rink rafters. (There was also an extra surprise in store for Hochkins – congratulations to Stacey and Sean!)
• Through his Engaged Athlete Fellowship with The Team, men's basketball junior Caleb Kenney has held food drives to benefit students at Worcester East Middle School.
• Women's basketball's opening round NCAA game at Iowa averaged 3.2 million viewers on ABC – at the time, the most for any non-Final Four women's tournament game ever. 
• Joe Pesansky and Christo Kelly from football attended the Uplifting Athletes Leadership Development Conference. 
• The baseball team finished in the "Sweet 16" of the Helper Helper App's March Madness "Team Challenge" — designating them as one of the top service teams in the NCAA.
• The baseball team welcomed their newest teammate, Max, during an official Team IMPACT signing on Feb. 4. 
• Men's ice hockey saw the largest percentage increase in home attendance in the nation as reported by College Hockey Inc.
• Senior Will Kelleher from the men's tennis team was one of two Patriot League student-athletes invited to participate in the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum in Bethesda, Md. 
• The men's lacrosse team hosted Autism Awareness Day on April 13 in support of the Live Like Maddie foundation, which honors the late sister of sophomore Tyler Marmo.
• A number of our teams participated in the annual Working for Worcester Build Day on April 13. 
• Holy Cross was recognized for 25 years of partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass and MetroWest at their recent annual gala.

UPCOMING EVENTS

April 20 | Lacrosse Doubleheader at Fitton Field
Women vs. #5 Loyola (Md.) at 12:00 p.m.
Men vs. Colgate at 3:30 p.m.

April 25 to 27 | NFL Draft 
How to Watch

May 14, 15, 21 | May Coaches Road Shows - JOIN US!

May 24 | Commencement

June 7-9 | Reunion Weekend

June 10 | Football Golf Outing 

August 23 | Men's Ice Hockey Golf Outing — Save the Date!

Sept. 7 | Football Home Opener vs. New Hampshire 
Don't miss out on your chance to catch the five-time defending Patriot League champion Holy Cross football team in action this fall — season tickets for the 2024 campaign are on sale NOW starting at just $80! To renew or purchase season tickets, fans can visit the Holy Cross ticket website, call or text 1-844-GO-CROSS, or email tickets@holycross.edu.

Jan. 3-4 | Coachella Valley Cactus Cup

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