WORCESTER, Mass. - The Holy Cross men's ice hockey defeated Niagara, 5-1, in Atlantic Hockey action on Friday night at the Hart Center Rink.

With the win, Holy Cross improves to 4-5-1 (4-1-1 AHA), while Niagara moves to 3-5-0 (0-3-3 AHA).
 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Junior Ty Gagno got the Crusaders on the board first, netting a one-timer off a pass by sophomore Noah Eyre on a four-on-four opportunity with six minutes to play in the opening frame.
• Senior Michael Abgrall extended the Crusader lead to 2-0 when he sent a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from senior Mack Oliphant on the power play with 16 minutes to go in the second.
• Junior Connor Welsh picked up his fifth goal of the season just over a minute later, cleaning up a rebound off a shot by Gagno.
• Niagara scored to cut the lead to 3-1 to open the third period.
• Junior Jack Stockfish brought the lead back to three with under nine minutes to play, collecting a pass from sophomore Owain Johnston in open space, sending a wrist shot past the Niagara netminder.
• Senior Matt DeBoer got himself on the scoresheet with a quick shot off a face-off play, banking the puck off the crossbar and into the back of the net for the fifth score of the game for Holy Cross.

BEYOND THE BOX:

• Junior Connor MacKenzie recorded 15 saves in the matchup.
• Abgrall's power play goal was his third in four games.
• Senior Lachlan Getz led both sides with five blocked shots.
• Stockfish led both sides with 13 faceoff wins, finishing the night with a .619 faceoff percentage.

UP NEXT:

• The two teams will have a quick turnaround as they will meet at 2 p.m. tomorrow to finish out the series.
• Tickets are available at goholycross.com/mihtix

FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 

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