Jake McGuire ’27
Staff Writer
This weekend marked the end of regular season hockey for both the men and the women.
Men’s hockey ended with a 5-1 loss to Bentley to end their 7-game winning streak and regular season. While it was a rough finish to an otherwise spectacular season, the Crusaders are still looking ready for the playoffs. They clinched the 2 seed despite the loss, will be hosting the first round of the playoffs over the March 8-10 weekend right after Spring Break, and they have clinched home ice advantage until the finals.
The Crusaders finished the season at 18-12-4; their best regular season finish in eight years. Last year, they made it to the finals against Canisius but lost handily 3-0 in the Atlantic Hockey Championship Game. With their strong second-place finish, they will look to return to the finals this year.
They clinched one of the five first round byes into the quarterfinals. The five teams receiving first round byes are RIT, Holy Cross, Sacred Heart, Air Force, and AIC. AIC will travel to Colorado to take on the Air Force Academy in the quarterfinals. The other three teams with byes will play the three winners of the single elimination play-in games.
These games, all taking place on Saturday, March 2nd, are Robert Morris at Bentley, Army at Niagara, and Merchyhurst at Canisius. Holy Cross will play the second-lowest seed remaining in the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Holy Cross men’s hockey has home advantage and will play in the Hart Center for the three-game series. The series will be held on March 8th and 9th, with the chance for a game three on the 10th. If they win, they will be back at the Hart the following weekend, March 15-18, for the semifinals.
The women were swept by Maine and ended the season last in Hockey East, 11 points behind ninth place Merrimack. They lost on Saturday 3-2 in overtime and 5-2 on Sunday.
Women’s hockey, the 10 seed, will play Boston University in their play-in game. Of their four conference wins, two of them were against Boston University. They swept BU on the last weekend of January, which were their most exciting wins all year. They are 2-1 against BU this year, their best record against any of their conference opponents. Puck drops at 6 pm on Wednesday, February 28 in Boston. This game will be decided by the time this article is published.
With a win against BU, they would then play first place Connecticut, who is ranked #11 in the country and has been ranked all year. They are 0-3 against Connecticut this year, with losses by scores of 3-0, 3-1, and 5-1. Connecticut is the regular-season champion and is looking to take the Hockey East title. Second-place Northeastern, who is the defending champion, are the favorite to meet Connecticut in the Hockey East Championship. The winner of the championship will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Copy edited by Lauren Backstrom
Featured Image Courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics
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