WORCESTER, Mass.- The Holy Cross women's ice hockey team will play a home-away series with Merrimack on Friday, Jan. 17, and Saturday, Jan. 18. The Crusaders will host the Warriors for game one at 6 p.m. on Friday in the Hart Center Rink. Merrimack has a 3 p.m. puck drop set for game two at Lawler Rink. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (7-13-1, 3-11-1 Hockey East): 

• The Crusaders most recently took on Providence for a two-game away series on Jan. 10 and 11. The Friars swept Holy Cross taking a 3-1 win in game one and a 1-0 victory in game two.
• In game one, the action kicked off at 3:45 in the first period when sophomore forward Reghan Chadwick pick-pocketed a Friar and snuck the puck past the goalie on her own. Providence answered two minutes later to end the opening frame tied 1-1.
• The Friars extended their lead to 2-1 in the second period and scored late in the third period for Providence to seal the 3-1 win over the Crusaders.
• In game two, it wasn't until there were less than two minutes to go in the second period that the Friars scored to take the lead.
• Despite a great fight from the Crusaders, Providence took the 1-0 win by the final horn.
• Sophomore assistant captain Emily Crovo is currently Holy Cross's leading in every offensive category. She has scored six goals on the year, three of which were on the power-play, and had eight assists for 14 points. Senior captain Emma Min leads the Holy Cross defense with 56 blocks so far this season, 28 more than the closest Crusader.
• Junior goalie Abby Hornung started between the Crusaders' pipes in both games. She made 31 saves in game one and 30 saves in game two for a current 2.10 goals against with a .936 save percentage.

WATCHING THE WARRIORS (6-15-1, 3-11-1 Hockey East):

• The Warriors recently hosted New Hampshire on Jan. 10 and fell 5-3 in regulation.
• The Wildcats got things started with a power-play goal scored at 7:05 in the opening frame. Just 21 seconds later New Hampshire doubled their lead making it a 2-0 game. Merrimack replied at 10:53 with a power-play goal netted by junior defender Payten Evans assisted by freshmen Chloe Goofers and Abby Poitras. The Wildcats once again responded 16 seconds later with another game for a 3-1 result.
• The Warriors started the second period with a power-play goal put in by sophomore forward Maria Lindberg at 6:35 to make it a one-goal game. Senior defender Haley Chang and freshman forward Sage Babey assisted her. New Hampshire furthered their lead at 18:15 and again at 19:12 on a short-handed goal.
• Entering the final period, the Wildcats were ahead 5-2. At 13:38, junior forward Sophie McKinley scored with help from junior forward Alex Ferguson and Poitras. Unfortunately, Merrimack just came up short falling 5-3 at the final horn.
• Lindberg is currently leading Merrimack's with nine goals and 16 points so far this season. Chang has made nine assists this year, the most of any Warrior. Poitras leads Merrimack with 40 blocks, 12 more than her closest teammate. 
• Junior goalie Calli Hogarth was in goal for the Warriors making 25 saves in the outing for a current 2.95 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. 

LAST TIME THEY MET:

• Holy Cross and Merrimack met earlier this season, when the Warriors hosted the Crusaders and pulled off the 3-2 overtime win on Dec. 7.
• The Crusaders own a 5-12-1 all-time and conference series record against the Warriors.

FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 
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