COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team held on to defeat Air Force, 3-2, on Friday night at the Cadet Ice Arena.
 
Holy Cross improves to 12-11-2 (11-4-2 AHA) on the season, while Air Force falls to 11-15-1 (8-9-0 AHA).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first period, and finished the frame knotted up at eight shots apiece. The Crusaders dominated at the faceoff dot, going 11-for-16 (.688).
• Senior Liam McLinskey broke the game open just under eight minutes into the second period on the power play. Carrying the puck from the defensive zone after a clean faceoff win by freshman Matt Kursonis, McLinskey went the length of the ice before beating the Air Force netminder stick side.
• McLinskey struck again with 35.4 seconds remaining in the middle frame. Sophomore Brody Gagno found McLinskey in the middle of the ice, setting him up for the one-time shot and score.
• Air Force broke the shutout just over seven minutes into the third period.
• Sophomore Jack Stockfish regained the two-goal lead for the Crusaders with 7:30 remaining in the final frame, passing the puck to himself around a defender, before batting the redirect by the Falcons netminder into the back of the net.
• Air Force brought the lead back to one with 5:33 remaining.
• The Falcons pulled their goaltender with 1:36 remaining in favor of the extra skater. Air Force took six shots in the span but were unable to find the goal.

 
BEYOND THE BOX:

• Senior Thomas Gale recorded 33 saves in the contest.
• Junior Mack Oliphant skated in his 100^th career game tonight. Oliphant made his debut on Oct. 7, 2022, at North Dakota.
• Junior Michael Abgrall and Kursonis tied for the game-lead in faceoff wins with ten each.

 
UP NEXT:

• The two teams will face off again tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 25, at 5 p.m. MT / 7 p.m. ET.

 
FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 
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