Crusaders head to Vermont for Hockey East Opening Round game

WORCESTER, Mass.- The Holy Cross women's ice hockey team travels to Burlington, Vt. for a Wednesday night Hockey East Opening Round game with #8-seeded Vermont on Feb. 26. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:00 pm at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Fans can tune into the broadcast on ESPN+.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (10-19-4, 6-17-4 Hockey East):

The Crusaders concluded the regular season with a trip to Orono, Maine. The Black Bears took game one 3-1 on Feb. 21 but the two teams tied 2-2 OT in game two with Holy Cross claiming the extra point in league standings due to the 2-0 shootout victory.
Midway through the first period of game one, junior assistant captain Alexia Moreau whipped a shot on goal that rebounded off the goalie right into the stick of sophomore forward Reghan Chadwick. Chadwick sent the puck up and over the goalie's left shoulder to score at 11:46. Junior defender Taylor Cantelon started the play for the second assist on the goal.
Just 20 seconds into the second period, Maine equalized and later stole the lead with a goal at 13:38. The Black Bears furthered their lead with another goal at 18:18 to end the second period with a 3-1 result. At 16:53 in the third period, Maine netted one more goal for the 4-1 victory over the Crusaders.
At 4:36 in the first period of game two, Maine scored the first goal of the game for the 1-0 lead.
In the second period, freshman defender Kaitlin Sullivan fired the puck around the boards to clear it out of the Crusader defensive zone. Senior forward Mackenzie King took advantage of a Black Bears line change and took off after the puck driving into the top left corner of the goal at 17:47 to tie the game 1-1.
Just a minute and 30 seconds into the third period Maine reclaimed the lead. With 7 seconds left in regulation and an empty net for the Crusaders, senior defender Carmen Elliott fired a shot from the point which deflected off of the stick of junior forward Charlotte Sonntag into the back of the net to force the game into overtime. Chadwick set the play in motion to earn an assist on the goal.
Holy Cross and Maine ended overtime with a 2-2 final score and went to a shootout to decide which team would take home the extra point in league standings. King and Moreau netted their shootout attempts while junior goalie Abby Hornung shut out the Black Bears for the 2-0 shootout victory.
Sophomore assistant captain Emily Crovo and Chadwick lead Holy Cross with six goals a piece. Three of the assistant captains' goals were on the power-play. Crovo also leads the Crusaders with 10 assists and 16 points this year. Senior captain Emma Min leads the Holy Cross defense with 86 blocks so far this season, 43 more than the closest Crusader and 20 more than anyone else in the league. Min is currently tied for third in the nation in blocks.
Hornung started between the Crusaders' pipes for both games against the Catamounts. She made 25 saves in game one over two periods and made 35 saves in game two shutting out the Black Bears in the shootout. She now owns a 1.87 goals against with a .941 save percentage. Hornung is currently tied for fifth in the nation and second in Hockey East for her save percentage. Junior assistant captain Brooke Loranger made an appearance in the third period of game one making 10 saves in net for a 2.37 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.

CLUES ON THE CATAMOUNTS (8-24-2, 7-18-2 Hockey East):

The Catamounts ended the 2024-25 regular season campaign splitting the weekend with No. 14 Northeastern on Feb. 21 and 22. Vermont took game one 3-2 and dropped game two 3-1.
After a scoreless first period in game one, the Catamounts went on a scoring frenzy to begin the second period. Graduate forward Maddy Skelton netted a goal just 21 seconds into the second with help from junior forward Lara Beecher and graduate defender Kayla Bent. Only 37 seconds passed before sophomore defender Ashley Kokavec found the back of the net. Freshman forward Oona Havana was credited with the assist. At 4:01, senior forward Evelyne Blais-Savoie scored the third Vermont goal to extend the lead. Skelton and sophomore defender Natalie Zarcone assisted her.
No. 14 Northeastern started to catch up with two goals at 2:00 and 5:41 in the third period, but the Catamounts held off the nationally ranked Huskies for the 3-2 victory.
Vermont kicked off game two an early second-period power-play goal scored by Zarcone at 4:09. Kokavec and Havana earned the assists.
The Huskies responded in the third with the equalizer at 4:44 and took the lead at 5:21. The Catamounts pulled their goalie for the extra skater advantage to try to tie the game but No. 14 Northeastern put in an empty netter with less than a minute on the clock to take the 3-1 win.
Beecher and Blais-Savoie currently reside as the Catamounts' leading scorers with six goals a piece. Beecher and Kokavec have the most assists with 10 each on the season. Beecher has tallied 16 points this year. Redshirt junior defender Anna Podein has 50 blocks this season, the most of any Catamount.
Senior goalies Jane Gervais and Sydney Correa split time in net against the nationally ranked Huskies. Gervaise was in goal for game one and made 25 saves for the win. She now owns a 2.59 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Correa was between the pipes for game two and made 32 for a current 2.88 goals-against average and .906 save percentage.

LAST TIME THEY MET:

Holy Cross took the first regular season series sweep over Vermont with a 2-1 OT victory on Nov. 9, a 1-0 win on Feb. 15 and prevailed 3-1 on Feb. 16.
The Crusaders hold a 7-12-1 all-time and 7-9-1 conference series record against the Catamounts.

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