The Spire

Patrick Grudberg ‘24

Sports Section Editor

Entering last weekend, Holy Cross men’s hockey was one of the hottest teams in the country. Despite taking a shootout loss to Robert Morris, the Crusaders entered the weekend at 4-0-1 ready to face the RIT Tigers, last season’s Atlantic Hockey regular season champs. The Tigers took three of four games vs the Crusaders in the regular season, but it all changed when the two squads met in the semifinals of the Atlantic Hockey conference tournament. After splitting games one and two, Coach Riga’s squad blew their conference foes out of the water (or ice?) with a 5-1 beatdown that sent the Crusaders to the championship game. Both teams surely had these memories in mind going into the weekend, and it showed in the frequent tense, physical and borderline-chippy outbursts during the two-game series.

The first half of game one, including the first period and half of the second, saw RIT take control of most scoring chances, shot opportunities and puck possession. However, Holy Cross’ defense remained resolute, anchored by a stellar performance in goal by senior Jason Grande. In the short spurts of possession in RIT’s zone, Holy Cross’ offensive attack looked decisive and crisp, most notably led by the first line of Jack Ricketts, Jack Stockfish and Matt DeBoer. It didn’t result in any goals, but the lopsided shot tallies were not indicative of how the game was going. Halfway through the second period, RIT took the lead off a scramble in front that saw Carter Wilkie slot home a point blank opportunity in Grande’s crease. 

By the second intermission, all the momentum looked to be in RIT’s favor. But as the third period got underway, Holy Cross was playing with a fire in their belly. That newfound energy paid off soon after when Jack Ricketts tipped home a Liam McLinskey wrister on the power play with around fifteen minutes left. Junior defenseman Matt Shatsky netted a wrist shot from the left point almost immediately after, but the referees disallowed the goal after noticing goalie interference on the play. Momentum looked to be swinging back the Tigers way when senior defenseman Jack Robilotti took a five minute major penalty with a little under fourteen minutes left. But, to everyone’s surprise, the Crusaders capitalized on a neutral zone turnover, led a three-one-one rush and took a 2-1 lead through a John Gelatt one-timer. 

Despite being seriously out-shot, it seemed like Holy Cross was going to overcome the odds and continue their unbeaten streak. But unfortunately, RIT responded with a Simon Isabelle goal with six minutes remaining in regulation. The game would go to overtime, where Holy Cross had a slew of chances off odd-man rushes. But after consecutive ice-to-ice fastbreaks, the defense was caught off guard with tired legs and allowed a goal to RIT’s Tanner Andrew. RIT emptied their bench in celebration and went home as victors after game one.

Throughout the first game, and certainly into Saturday night’s contest, there was clear tension building. After the Tigers’ overtime winner,  RIT’s Carter Wilkie mocked John Gelatt’s “riding the horse” celebration by putting his stick between his legs as he rushed to celebrate with teammates. And for some reason, there was a really large contingent of RIT fans who made the five and a half hour trip to Worcester. You have to respect their dedication, but they certainly had some chants that showed “an alarming lack of creativity” directed at Jason Grande and other skaters after penalties and supposed missed calls.

Game two took a much different path from the first moments of the game. Unlike Friday night, Holy Cross came out on the front foot almost immediately. Tyler Ghiardosi gave the Crusaders a 1-0 lead thirty seconds in after neatly deked around a defender and put one over the shoulder of RIT goalie Tommy Scarfone. But after that moment, Scarfone put together a real masterclass in netminding, saving 40 of the next 41 shots on goal. RIT grabbed the lead after two first period goals, and a Christian Catalano goal solidified their 3-1 lead going into the second intermission. Scarfone and the RIT defense looked unbeatable until freshman Jack Stockfish roofed a beautiful one-timer from the left faceoff dot with thirteen minutes left in the third period. Despite some dangerous chances in the closing moments of the game, Holy Cross fell just short in a 3-2 loss for the second night in a row.

While Coach Riga and company would’ve loved to take at least one game against RIT, there were certainly positives leaving the two-game series. Holy Cross’ top six forwards looked really dangerous for long stretches of times, including underclassmen contributors like Stockfish, DeBoer and Ty Gagno. Jason Grande continues to look phenomenal in goal despite playing back-to-back nights multiple weekends in a row. RIT was picked to finish #1 in Atlantic Hockey in the preseason, and the Crusaders will get another shot at them later in the year. For now, they start an away series versus Canisius tonight and tomorrow. The Golden Griffins ended Holy Cross’ season last year in the conference tournament final, so there is definitely some revenge to be had. We’ll all certainly be rooting for the Crusaders to get back to their winning ways!

Featured Men’s Hockey image courtesy of Charlotte Fallon