The Holy Cross Crusaders scored five goals over the last two periods to break a 1-1 tie as they defeated the Connecticut Huskies, 6-3 in game two of the Toyota UConn Hockey Classic on Thursday evening. UConn drops to 3-11-3 on the season with a 2-5-1 record in Atlantic Hockey, while Holy Cross moves to 7-5-4 on the year with a 4-2-3 record in Atlantic Hockey.
James Sixsmith gave Holy Cross an early lead at 4:28 in the first as he beat Huskies goaltender Scott Tomes with a wrist shot low to the stick side from Sean Nappo and Dale Reinhardt.
Connecticut then tied the score at one with a power-play goal at the 16:33 mark in the opening period. Sophomore Scott McDougall top-shelfed his first of the season for UConn off a feed from classmates Bill Magnuson and Brian Burns.
The Crusaders, however, came out in the second with tallies from Reinhardt and Tyler McGregor at 1:12 and 10:43, respectively, to take a 3-1 lead.
Adam Rhein brought the Huskies back to within one with his second of the year from Magnuson 3:52 into the third stanza, but Holy Cross followed with goals at 7:10, 11:17 and 12:07 to secure the victory.
Cole Koidahl notched the third and final UConn goal on the power play at 17:35 from Mike Neilon and captain Tim Olsen to close out the scoring.
Tomes and Brad Smith combined for 34 saves for Connecticut and Tony Quesada stopped 38 shots in net for Holy Cross. UConn held a 41-40 shot advantage and went 2-for-9 in power-play opportunities, while the Crusaders were 1-for-5 with a man-advantage.
The Huskies return to action tomorrow, December 31, as they will face Merrimack College in the consolation game of the Toyota UConn Hockey Classic at 1:30 p.m. Holy Cross will battle Brown in the championship game at 4:30 p.m., as the Bears rolled to a 4-1 victory over Merrimack in game one of the Classic Thursday afternoon.
