All home seeds moved on (more on that in a bit), but it wasn’t as easy as just saying it. A look at three things (okay, four) that made this weekend as insane as I’ll try to make it out to be:<\/p>\n
Holy Cross Gets Divine Intervention<\/strong><\/p>\n If I had to guess, some late night Friday (and maybe even early morning Saturday) prayers were answered by a higher power for the Holy Cross Crusaders. How else can you explain some of the whacky weirdness taking place on Saturday and Sunday in Games Two and Three of their series with Rochester Institute of Technology?<\/p>\n Let’s reset the scene. In Game One, the Crusaders battled back from down 1-0 and 2-1 to force overtime behind a third period goal by Shayne Stockton. In OT, though, the RIT Tigers scored at 13:23 off the stick of Brad McGowan. RIT, a team that didn’t win any of their five overtime games during the regular season but also a team that didn’t lose any (with an 0-0-5 record!), seemed to wrestle control of the series after winning their last three games to battle into the ninth seed.<\/p>\n Then came the weirdness. Several members of the RIT squad woke up sick on Saturday, forcing the Tigers to dress essentially four healthy defensemen and use a limited roster. The handicapped Tigers got tattooed, losing 5-1 in a game that was all Holy Cross from start to finish. It also meant RIT would face a decisive third game for the second time in their last three best-of-three series.<\/p>\n On Sunday, the Tigers took a 2-0 lead early in the second before surrendering two mid-period goals in that same frame. Tied at 2-2, the game went to another overtime. After settling into the Holy Cross zone, RIT attempted to work the puck around the backside of the net. Michael Holland dumped it in while getting shoved by Tim Driscoll, and Mike Colavecchia keeps it along the boards. You can clearly see Jake Bolton pin Ben Lynch in Gretzky’s Office, forcing the Tigers to follow it along the wall. That’s when it hits the skate of referee Ryan Sweeney. We know it’s Sweeney because the man in zebra stripes is wearing the orange arm bands, and Mike Taddeo’s nameplate is clearly visible at the start of the exchange.<\/p>\n Instead of hitting Alexander Kuqali, the puck deflects off Sweeney, allowing a breakout for Adam Schmidt up the right side. Kuqali gets semi-turned around, and Schmidt sends it right into the middle for Mike Barrett. Holland is back, gets down to a knee, but Barrett is in a good spot, on the forehand, and beats goalie Mike Rotolo to end the series. There’s great video posted online:<\/p>\n “@HC_Crusader<\/a>: Exclusive video of the @HCHockey<\/a> game winning goal https:\/\/t.co\/8wCn80h6qN<\/a>” #sweeney<\/a><\/p>\n