Last year, Holy Cross put up almost identical numbers as the year before (12-19-6 in 2009-10; 13-20-5 in 2008-09). Treading water isn’t what coach Paul Pearl has in mind.
“We had a star-crossed kind of season,” Pearl said. “Guys were pretty banged up.”
Twenty-two returning players, a strong recruiting class and some momentum from last season make Pearl optimistic.
“We need to score more goals,” he said. “We did that in February. We need to finish plays and put pucks in the net. We got some in bunches at the end of last season.”
The Crusaders return seven of their top 10 scorers but lost Jordan Cyr (a team-leading 30 points last season), who had a year of eligibility left after transferring from Rensselaer after his freshman year.
“We knew we would have him for only two seasons,” Pearl said. “He didn’t need to come back for a fifth year [of school].”
Continued big contributions are expected from senior captain Everett Sheen (20 points last season) and junior Jay Silvia (10 goals). Ron Linsmayer had 19 points in his rookie campaign, and goaltender Thomas Tysowsky is coming off an outstanding freshman year, playing in 34 games with a .910 save percentage and a 2.43 goals-against average.
Tysowsky will be pushed by senior Adam Roy, who is looking to reclaim his starting role. It’s a good problem for Pearl and Holy Cross to have.
“I’ll tell you what, Adam Roy has looked good,” he said. “I think our goaltending and defense are going to be strong points.
“We’re feeling good heading into the season. There are things to work on, but we’re optimistic.”
