Holy Cross sophomore Brandon Doria tallied his first career hat trick to lead the Crusader hockey team to a 6-2 victory over Bentley.
On the way to the win, Holy Cross scored three times on the power play while Derek Cunha made 28 saves between the pipes for his second victory of the year. The Crusaders improved to 7-19-2 overall and 7-13-2 in the MAAC to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Doria scored at 5:56 of the opening period on the power play and added another goal, his 11th of the year, at 12:04 to give his team a 2-0 lead. Goal No.3 for Doria, another power-play strike, came at 18:38 of the second period and gave the Crusaders a 4-1 advantage.
Pat Rissmiller, Tim Coskren and John Bombard also added goals for Holy Cross, while Rissmiller (1 goal, 1 assist) and freshman Jeff Dams (2 assists) finished with two points each. Bombard’s tally came shorthanded late in the third period.
Bentley’s Paul Monzione and captain Steve Tobio scored the goals for the Falcons. Monzione made it 3-1 with his fifth goal of the season at 19:48 of the first period when he deflected home a shot by sophomore Marcus Willy while Tobio notched his third goal of the season on the power play with nine seconds left in the game.
Bill Bridge made 32 saves in goal for Bentley, who dipped to 4-18-2 overall, 3-16-2 in MAAC play.