WORCESTER, Mass. – The No. 20 Holy Cross men's ice hockey team defeated AIC, 4-3 in overtime, Sunday evening at the Hart Center Rink.

Holy Cross moves to 21-13-2 on the season with the win and advances to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals, while AIC moves to 13-22-2 with the loss. 
 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Sophomore Brody Gagno recorded his first collegiate goal – a shorthanded strike – to put the Crusaders on the board with 9:02 to play in the opening period. Picking off a pass at the blue line, Gagno skated the puck up the ice, faking a shot to the right before pulling the puck to the backside of his stick, lifting it over the outstretched netminder for the score.
• AIC tied the game up at 1-1 4:30 into the second period. 
• With the Crusaders on the power play with 11 minutes to play in the middle period, senior forward Liam McLinskey sent a shot on net from the left face off dot that found its way past the AIC goaltender to give Holy Cross the 2-1 lead.
• AIC tied it up again at 2-2 with seven minutes to go in the period. 
• Junior Matt DeBoer put the Crusaders back on top 1:10 into the third period with a power play goal. Carrying the puck into the zone, junior Mack Oliphant found freshman Matt Kursonis for a cross ice pass. Sending the puck on net, DeBoer grabbed the rebound and sent into the back of the net. 
• With 39 seconds remaining in regulation, AIC headed to the power play and pulled their goaltender in favor of the extra attacker, creating the six-on-four opportunity, which they were able to score on with 35 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. 
• Junior Michael Abgrall proved to be the overtime hero, grabbing the stretch pass from McLinskey and sending a shot over the shoulder of the Yellowjackets' netminder to send the Crusaders to the semifinal round. 

BEYOND THE BOX:

• Senior Thomas Gale recorded 20 saves in the win.
• Gagno led both sides with five blocked shots. The Crusaders finished the night with 34 blocked shots, compared to the Yellowjackets' 23. 
• Sophomore Jack Stockfish led both sides with 12 faceoff wins. 

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross will host fifth-seeded Army for the best-of-three semifinal round, beginning on Friday, March 14 at 7 p.m.
• Tickets are on sale now!

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