WORCESTER, Mass. - The #4 seed Holy Cross men's ice hockey team defeated #5 seeded RIT, 5-4, in overtime on Saturday night at the Hart Center Rink.

With the win, Holy Cross sweeps the quarterfinal matchup, and advances to the Atlantic Hockey Semifinal round next weekend.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Neither team was able to score in the opening period, with RIT holding the slight edge in shots, 7-6.
• Senior Devin Phillips opened the scoring with a power play goal 2:53 into the second period, sending a one-timer past the RIT netminder off a pass from junior Jack Stockfish.
• 18 seconds later, junior Connor Welsh cleaned up a rebound off his own shot to extend the Holy Cross lead to 2-0.
• RIT cut the lead to 2-1 with 3:44 to play in the period, but a tip-in goal by junior David Hymovitch off a shot by senior Mack Oliphant with 43.7 seconds to play restored the two goal Crusader lead.
• Forcing a turnover in the defensive zone with just under 18 seconds left in the period, junior Brody Gagno found Phillips for the cross-ice clearing pass, who in turn found Stockfish in stride for a breakaway chance. Stockfish collected the puck and sent a wrist shot glove side for the 4-1 lead with 9.7 seconds left in the middle period.
• The third period was all RIT, as the Tigers tied the game at 4-4 with goals at the 13:22, 11:45, and 0:31.6 marks of the final period of regulation.
• Catching RIT on a line change just under four minutes into overtime, freshman Quinn McCall flipped the puck up the ice to Phillips in stride, who in turn dropped the puck back to Stockfish for the quick wrist shot over the glove of the RIT netminder for the series win.

BEYOND THE BOX:

• Freshman Danick Leroux recorded 33 saves in the contest, finishing the weekend set with a total of 66 saves.
• The Crusaders blocked 21 shots in the contest, compared to the Tigers' six.
• Holy Cross was 1-for-2 on the power play, while holding RIT to 0-for-3 on the man advantage.

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross will await the winner of the #3 Robert Morris vs. #6 Air Force series to learn who they will face next.
• With a Robert Morris win, Holy Cross will head to #1 Bentley for the three game semifinal set March 13-15. With an Air Force win, Holy Cross will travel to #2 Sacred Heart.

 
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