Visiting Holy Cross scored two goals in the last four minutes of regulation to steal a point from host Army on Saturday, as the Crusaders came away with a 4-4 tie in front of 2,008 hockey fans at Tate Rink.
The deadlock was the fifth this season for Army (4-12-5, 2-7-5 MAAC), establishing a new single-season record. The Black Knights have now knotted their competition in three of their last four games.
Black Knights sophomore defenseman Mike McLean’s slap shot from the point opened up a two-goal lead for Army with 8:55 to play in the game. The marker was McLean’s first of the season and second of his career, and came while the Black Knights were on the power play.
However, Holy Cross (11-7-3, 8-3-3) rallied shortly thereafter as senior Tony Deluzio scored twice one minute apart to even the game at four apiece. The two teams played five minutes of overtime to a stalemate.
Army senior captain Tim Murphy finished off a Derek Hines shorthanded break with his fourth goal of the season to give Army a 3-2 lead heading into the final period. Hines beat his defenseman along the right-side boards and tried to stuff a shot past Crusaders goaltender Derek Cunha. The senior netminder made the initial save, but Murphy backhanded the loose puck top shelf while Cunha was sprawled out on the ice.
Army struck first for the second time in as many nights when junior Joe Dudek extended his point-scoring streak to five straight with a goal 13 minutes into the action. Holy Cross’ Greg Kealey tied things up one minute into the second, and knotted the score again at 2-2 after Army’s Chris Casey had given the Black Knights a short-lived lead at 3:30 of the second.
Casey had a goal and an assist, turning in his second multiple-point effort in as many nights. Casey picked up two assists in Friday night’s Army-Holy Cross matchup in Worcester, Mass.
Freshman goaltender John Yaros made 35 saves in goal for the host Black Knights. He is 3-5-5 on the year, picking up a tie in each of his last three outings. Cunha had 32 saves for the visitors. Each team went 1-for-3 on the power play.
Army returns to action Friday night when it travels to North Branford, Conn., for a MAAC contest against Quinnipiac.
