Eight different players scored for Holy Cross as the Crusaders downed visiting Sacred Heart, 8-2, Friday evening at the Hart Center. HC set a season high for goals as the Crusaders eclipsed their previous mark of seven set on October 20, when they defeated Air Force 7-6.
Holy Cross jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Tim Bernstein deflected a J.R. Walker slapshot past SH goalie Eddy Ferhi at 6:40 of the opening segment. Matt Conway also assisted on the play. Tony Deluzio doubled the Crusaders’ lead just nine seconds later as he fired a shot over Ferhi’s shoulder. Joel Robbins and Chris Smith were credited with the helpers.
Holy Cross pushed the score to 3-0 on the power play at 13:08 when Greg Kealey netted his team-leading 12th goal of the season. Assisting on the score were Patrick Rissmiller and R.J. Irving .
Sacred Heart was able to cut Holy Cross’ lead to two goals at 1:01 of the second stanza on a Marc-Andre Fournier score. Andrew McKay’s wrister at 6:10 gave the Crusaders a 4-1 advantage. Smith and Jeff Dams assisted on the goal. Smith tallied his third point of the night when he scored on a slapshot from the point at 17:54.
The Pioneers’ recorded their second goal of the game at 1:27 of the third period when Peter McRea slipped a shot past Derek Cunha, but Joe Weber gave HC a 6-2 cushion when he scored his first career goal at 5:10. Walker and Tim Coskren dished out the assists.
A power-play goal by Doria at 12:48 made the score 7-2 in favor of the Crusaders. Rissmiller tallied his third assist of the night on the play, while Irving was credited with his second helper. Rissmiller notched his team-high fourth point of the evening when he scored Holy Cross’ third power-play goal of the game to push the final score to 8-2 at 15:40.
Cunha made 26 saves in net for HC. Ferhi and backup Kevin LaPoint combined to stop 28 shots for the Pioneers.
Holy Cross improves to 13-8-3 overall, 10-4-3 MAAC. Sacred Heart falls to 9-10-2 overall, 9-5-1 MAAC. The two teams square off again Saturday night at the Milford Ice Pavilion in Milford, Conn. Faceoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.
