WORCESTER, Mass. - The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team will open its Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament when it hosts AIC for the quarterfinal round. The best-of-three series is set for Friday, March 7, Saturday, March 8, and, if necessary, Sunday, March 9 at the Hart Center Rink. 
 
Friday and Saturday's matchups are set for 7 p.m., with the if needed tie-breaking game on Sunday at 5 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on FloSports.

Holy Cross finished the regular season with a 20-12-2 overall record, while going 19-5-2 in conference play, good for the Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Championship title and no. 1 seed in the Atlantic Hockey tournament. The Crusaders have won 13 of their last 14 games, while finishing February with a 7-1 record. Holy Cross enters the playoffs with an NCAA-leading 91.1% penalty kill, and the 20^th-best power play in the nation at 22.8%, and entered both the USCHO and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls this week at No. 20 for the first time since 2012.
 
Senior Liam McLinskey finished the regular season with an Atlantic Hockey-best 43 points on 20 goals and 23 assists. Sophomore Jack Stockfish finished sixth in the league with 14 goals, while junior defenseman Mack Oliphant's 19 assist placed him 11^th. Senior netminder Thomas Gale holds a team and league-best 20-11-2 record with a 2.04 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. Gale's incredible 1.71 goals-against and .940 save percentage in conference play led the league this season.

AIC finished the regular season with an 11-21-2 overall record and a 9-16-1 conference record, taking the no. 8 seed in the tournament after going 3-4-1 in the final month of the regular season.
 
The Yellowjackets faced no. 9 seeded RIT in the Atlantic Hockey First Round last Saturday, March 1, winning 2-1 in overtime in the neutral site matchup at Tate Rink in West Point, N.Y. to earn a spot in the quarterfinal round.

AIC is led on offense by Matt Barnes, who carries 23 points on 13 goals and 10 assists into the playoff series. Netminder Chase Clark holds a team-best 8-12-2 record and 2.76 goals-against average, while Adam Manji leads with a .921 save percentage.

The Crusaders enter the matchup 12-1-1 against Atlantic Hockey opponents since the turn of the calendar, while the Yellowjackets went 6-6-1 in the same frame.

All time, the Crusaders are 65-43-12 against the Yellowjackets, including a 7-3-0 mark in tournament play. The two teams have met four times this season, with Holy Cross taking the season series, 3-1-0. Despite the commanding lead in the all-time series, the Crusaders are 5-4-1 in the last ten meetings between the two teams.

The winner of the series will move on to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals next weekend, March 14-16.

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