Holy Cross holds off Air Force for 3-2 win

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Holy Cross built a 2-0 lead and then held off Air Force for a 3-2 win in an Atlantic Hockey America game, Friday, Jan. 24, at the Cadet Ice Arena.

After a scoreless first period, Holy Cross (12-11-2, 11-4-2 AHA) took the lead on a power-play goal in the second period. With the faceoff in the Holy Cross end, Matthew Kursonis won a faceoff and pushed the puck up ice. Liam McLinskey picked up the loose puck and skated in on a breakaway. His wrister from the right dot gave the Crusaders a 1-0 lead at 7:52. Late in the period, McLinskey's second of the game gave Holy Cross a 2-0 lead with 35 seconds left. Brody Gagno and Nic Petruolo set up McLinskey for a one-timer from the slot for his league-leading 14^th of the season.

Air Force (11-15-1, 8-9-0 AHA) got on the board midway through the third period to cut the HC lead to 2-1. Nick Sajevic took a shot that was wide and Sam Stitz collected the puck behind the net. Stitz's wrap-around attempt went off the leg of senior Andrew DeCarlo at 7:19. The Crusaders regained the two-goal advantage at 12:30 as Jack Stockfish scored for a 3-1 lead. The Falcons again answered with 5:33 left as Nick Remissong redirected a shot by Holt Oliphant. With 1:36 left, Air Force pulled the goalie for the extra skater. The Falcons had several scoring chances, but were unable to tie the game.

Air Force outshot Holy Cross, 35-20. Holy Cross was 1-for-3 on the power play and killed all three of Air Force's man-advantages. Thomas Gale made 33 saves for Holy Cross. Guy Blessing made 17 for the Falcons.

"Our guys battled so hard and their compete level is exactly what we want," head coach Frank Serratore said. "They are a strong, fast, well-coached team and they are difficult to play against. Early on, we were holding on for dear life. And then the right guy for them (McLinskey) had the puck on his stick. They found a way to get a special teams goal and we didn't. That was the bottom line. We have to find a way to get on the right side of these close games."

Air Force and Holy Cross conclude the two-game league series on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 5:07 pm at the Cadet ice Arena.

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Team Stats

Andrew DeCarlo

Nick Remissong

Sam Stitz

Nick Sajevic

Players Mentioned

Guy Blessing

Andrew DeCarlo

Holt Oliphant

Nick Remissong

Nick Sajevic

Sam Stitz

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