WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross men's ice hockey team is set to face Bentley for their first series of 2026. The two teams will square off in Waltham, Mass. on Friday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. and in Worcester, Mass. on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.

Both games will be broadcast live on FloHockey, while Saturday's home matchup will be simulcast on NESN+.

THE CRUSADERS (10-6-1, 8-1-1 AHA):

• Holy Cross finished the first half of the 2025-26 campaign with a 10-6-1 record and an 8-1-1 mark in Atlantic Hockey, good for first in the league standings.  The Crusaders racked up five weekly awards in the ten weeks of play, and one monthly award over the three month stretch.
• Holy Cross was last in action on Dec. 6 when they hosted Mercyhurst for their final game of 2025, a 4-1 win.
• The Crusaders ended 2025 on a 9-1-1 run from Oct. 25 at Army to Dec. 6 against Mercyhurst. Over the 11 game stretch, Holy Cross outscored opponents 42-21 and collected 23 of a possible 24 points in the Atlantic Hockey standings.
• The Crusaders enter 2026 with the Atlantic Hockey lead in goals for (61) and goals scored per game ( 3.59), assists (106) and assists per game (6.24), points (167) and points per game (9.82), and faceoff win percentage (.528).
• Junior Jack Stockfish traveled with the US Collegiate Selects team to Davos, Switzerland to compete in the 97th Spengler Cup, finishing as tournament runner-ups after falling in the championship game to the home squad, HC Davos.
• Senior Jack Seymour sits in a three-way tie for third in the nation in plus/minus at +19 on the season, just two ticks behind the leaders in the category. The next closest Atlantic Hockey skaters are teammates senior Matt DeBoer and sophomore Noah Eyre at +12 in a tie for 33rd.
• Stockfish's 188 face-off wins this season rank second in Atlantic Hockey and 17th in the nation. His .606 success rate this season leads Atlantic Hockey.

SCOUTING BENTLEY (9-6-1, 8-1-1 AHA):

• Bentley has kept pace with the first-place Crusaders this season, finding them just one point back in the standings due to Holy Cross winning their shootout against Sacred Heart, and Bentley losing their shootout against Army.
• The Falcons have been idle for just as long as the Crusaders, last playing on Dec. 5-6 when they hosted Niagara for a two-game set. Bentley split the series, falling in game one, 3-1, before bouncing back for a 3-2 win in the second game.
• Against common opponents this season - Mercyhurst, Army, Alaska Anchorage, Army, and Niagara - Bentley went 6-3 while Holy Cross went 7-1.
• Bentley is led on offense by Stephen Castagna (5-9-14), Owen Goodbrand (6-1-7), and Michael Mesic (4-8-12). The goaltending duo of Lukas Sweden (1.86 GAA, .926 sv%) and Nicholas Bevilacqua (1.65 GAA, .935 sv%) have combined to backstop 13 of the Falcons' 16 games.

ALL TIME SERIES:

• Holy Cross holds the all-time series lead at 47-31-10.
• Home ice has not been an advantage in recent meetings between the two squads, with the away team winning the last five matchups.
• The two teams met five times last season, four times in the regular season and in the Atlantic Hockey Championship game. Bentley took all three meetings at the Hart Center - including the Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament to close out the 2024-25 campaign.

 
FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 
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