Jake McGuire ’27
Staff Writer
Men’s hockey is getting hot at the right time. They are currently riding high on a seven-game winning streak going into the final week of the regular season. This weekend they got back-to-back wins against the Sacred Heart Pioneers for a third straight conference sweep. Going into this weekend, Sacred Heart was the second best team in Atlantic Hockey, with Holy Cross only 4 points behind in third. Holy Cross beat them twice to pass them and move within a game behind first-place RIT.
Game 1 against Sacred Heart was a 5-1 blowout. Showing up for senior night, Sacred Heart never stood a chance. Holy Cross was up 3-0 after the first period and 5-0 after the second. Sacred Heart’s lone goal was with seven seconds left in the game. Goals were scored by junior Liam McLinskey, senior Tyler Ghirardosi, sophomore Matt DeBoer, sophomore Jack Seymour, and McLinskey again with a minute left in the second.
In Game 2, the Crusaders traveled to Fairfield, Connecticut in the second half of the series. Home ice advantage gave the Pioneers a fighting chance. After the first period, it was 0-0 and Holy Cross had been outshot 7-5. Sacred Heart scored less than two minutes into the second period, and held that 1-0 lead until the third period.
Determined to keep their streak alive, Holy Cross came out in the third firing. Senior captain Jack Ricketts scored to make it 1-1 less than two minutes into the period.
Liam McLinksey got the assist with the pass for the goal, but he was not done yet. On a power play opportunity with thirteen minutes left in the game, McLinksey received a centering pass from Ricketts for the game winning goal. Despite pulling the goalie, Sacred Heart could not get anything going and the final score was Holy Cross 2, Sacred Heart 1.
Liam McLinksey deserves recognition for his play over the weekend. He scored the first goal just four minutes into the game on Friday, scoring another later in the game as well as an assist and the game-winning goal on Saturday. He had a career-high three assists against the 6-3 win against Air Force, as well as a goal and assist in the Saturday night game against Air Force. He has had a point in every game since their 3-0 loss to West Point on January 20th. On their seven-game win streak, he has had 14 points in those games, with 5 goals and 9 assists. His performance will be crucial if Holy Cross is to make it all the way in the Atlantic Hockey playoffs.
With the wins, the Crusaders have clinched a top-three finish and one of the five league byes in the playoffs and will play one of the winners of the play-in games in a best-of-three series. The series will take place over the weekend of March 8.
With a win against Bentley or a Sacred Heart loss, they will clinch second place and home ice advantage through the semifinals. With a win, they can actually get to first place if RIT, who has been in first place all season, loses both of their last two games against Canisius this weekend.
RIT is at 48 points, Holy Cross is at 46 points, and Sacred Heart is at 44 points, and then there is a 6-point gap until the next team, Air Force Academy, who is 13-10-1 and in fourth place. Teams get 3 points with a win, 2 points for a win in overtime, and 1 point for a loss in overtime.
The seven-game win streak is their highest in over a decade; the last time they had a streak of this length was in the 2010-11 season. During this streak, they have outscored opponents 33-14. They look to extend that win streak to eight games and end their regular season strong when Bentley travels to the Hart Center for the regular season finale. Puck drop against Bentley is at 7pm on Thursday, February 20.
Copy Edited by Caroline Kramer
Featured Image Courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics
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