Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey

Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey
Current season
University	College of the Holy Cross
Conference	AHA NCAA Division I Division
Head coach	Bill Riga 1st season, 0–0–0
Captain(s)	Matt Slick
Alternate captain(s)	Anthony Vincent Ryan Leibold
Arena	Hart Center Capacity: 1,600 Surface: 200' x 85'
Location	Worcester, Massachusetts
Colors	Royal purple[1]
NCAA Tournament appearances
2004, 2006
Conference Tournament championships
1999, 2004, 2006
Conference regular season championships
2003–04, 2005-06
Current uniform

The Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the College of the Holy Cross. The Crusaders are a member of the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA). They play at the Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.^[2]

History[]

Holy Cross men's ice hockey began in 1966 and a year later it joined ECAC 2. The Crusaders played in the second tier of college ice hockey for ten years before they played their first playoff game, but once they made it they didn't go very far. Over a six year period Holy Cross wen 2–5 in the conference postseason and never really got close to an NCAA tournament berth. When Division II ice hockey was abandoned in 1984 Holy Cross dropped down to Division III and was placed in ECAC East when ECAC 2 split. They made the ECAC tournament three out of four years under Peter Van Buskirk but couldn't manage a win. The team went through a down period under for six seasons but started winning again when Paul Pearl became head coach in 1994. After recording their best season in fifteen years Holy Cross promoted its program to Division I and joined the MAAC in 1998–99.^[3]

In their first year of D–I play Holy Cross won its first Conference Tournament, winning the inaugural MAAC Championship. Unfortunately, because the NCAA did not offer the MAAC an automatic bid at that time the Crusaders did not make the NCAA tournament. The next season Holy Cross dropped to seventh in the conference and lost 24 games over the course of the season (a program worst). After missing out on the conference tournament the next season Holy Cross returned to the playoffs for the final two years of the MAAC's existence before joining with all former MAAC programs in founding Atlantic Hockey.

Similar to their start with the MAAC, Holy Cross produced a great season, winning 22 games, and were able to win their first conference title. They then swept through the Atlantic Hockey playoffs and captured their second tournament championship, though this time they received a berth into the NCAA tournament for the first time. Though their national championship experience was brief the Crusaders continued to play well and returned to the Championship in 2006 after winning both conference crowns. The met #2 overall seeded Minnesota in the first round and pushed the heavily favored Golden Gophers into overtime where Tyler McGregor scored 53 seconds in, winning what is usually noted as the biggest upset in tournament history.^[4]

Holy Cross would decline after their miraculous 2006 season, posting losing records for four consecutive years, but the program began to recover in the second decade of the 20th century. Paul Pearl resigned in 2014 and was replaced by David Berard and while the team hasn't played poorly, they've yet to win a round in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament (as of 2018).

Season-by-season results[]

Source:^[5]

Postseason[]

NCAA tournament results[]

The Crusaders have appeared in the NCAA Tournament two times. Their combined record is 1–2.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Results
2004	#4	West Regional Semifinal	#1 North Dakota	L 3-0
2006	#4	West Regional Semifinal West Regional Final	#1 Minnesota #2 North Dakota	W 4-3 (OT) L 5-2

Coaches[]

As of completion of 2020–21 season

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
2021–	Bill Riga	1	0–0–0	–
2014–2021	David Berard	7	84–116–34	.432
1994–1996, 1997–2014	Paul Pearl	19	297–293–69	.503
1989–1994		6	61–99–3	.383
1979–1988, 1996–1997	Peter Van Buskirk	10	167–146–8	.533
1976–1979	Mike Addesa	3	49–31–1	.611
1966–1976		10	122–104–2	.539
Totals	7 coaches	56 seasons	780–789–117	.497

Awards and honors[]

NCAA[]

MAAC[]

Individual Awards[]

Tournament Most Valuable Player

• , D: 1999

All-Conference Teams[]

First Team All-MAAC

Second Team All-MAAC

MAAC All-Rookie Team

Atlantic Hockey[]

Individual Awards[]

All-Conference Teams[]

First Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team

Statistical leaders[]

Source:^[6]

Career points leaders[]

Player	Years	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	1982–1986		103	116	219
	1982–1986		101	117	218
	1966–1970		119	88	207
	1982–1986		87	120	207
	1973–1977		75	122	197
	1977–1981		93	98	191
	1966–1969		91	89	180
	1973–1977		71	81	152
	2003–2007	142	48	104	152
	1977–1981				147

Career goaltending leaders[]

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Minimum 1000 minutes

Player	Years	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
	2002–2006	105	6034	61	33	8	251	7	.915	2.50
	2014–2018	114	6677	46	47	19	281	11	.911	2.51
	2011–2015	129	7759	59	55	13	324	8	.917	2.51
	1995–1999	38	1960	21	10	2	82	2	.903	2.51
	2002–2006	45	2411	18	15	5	103	2	.909	2.56

Statistics current through the start of the 2018-19 season.

Holy Cross Varsity Club Hall of Fame[]

The following is a list of people associated with the Holy Cross men's ice hockey program who were elected into the Holy Cross Varsity Club Hall of Fame (induction date in parenthesis).^[7]

Current roster[]

As of August 31, 2021.^[8]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Jack Robilotti	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2001-07-18	New York, New York	Fargo (USHL)	—
3		Daniel Colabufo	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-06-19	Camillus, New York	Maryland (NAHL)	—
4		Jake Higgins	Sophomore	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2001-06-09	Hingham, Massachusetts	Deerfield (USHS–MA)	—
5		Mike Higgins	Junior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-04-06	Needham, Massachusetts	Northeast (NAHL)	—
6		Bryce Dolan	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-02-13	Barrington, Rhode Island	Kimball Union (USHS–NH)	—
7		Nick Hale	Junior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1999-05-07	Raleigh, North Carolina	Brooks (AJHL)	—
8		Michael Kane	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-04-01	Guilford, Connecticut	Jersey (NCDC)	—
11		Ryan Pineault	Sophomore	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2001-02-10	Glastonbury, Connecticut	Westminster (USHS–CT)	—
12		Matt Guerra	Sophomore	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1999-05-21	Orlando, Florida	Robert Morris (AHA)	—
13		Grayson Constable	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1998-05-05	Lethbridge, Alberta	Bonnyville (AJHL)	—
14		Matt Shatsky	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-04-29	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Sherwood Park (AJHL)	—
15		Jack Ricketts	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-09-08	Oakville, Ontario	Oakville (OJHL)	—
17		Ryan Leibold (A)	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-11-03	Ashburn, Virginia	Sioux City (USHL)	—
18		Bobby Young	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-11-08	Kitchener, Ontario	Bonnyville (AJHL)	—
19		Alex Peterson	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	1998-03-27	Lansdale, Pennsylvania	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
20		Jack Hillman	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-07-04	Zionsville, Indiana	Maryland (NAHL)	—
21		Alec Cicero	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-03-09	Williamsville, New York	Buffalo (OJHL)	—
22		Lucas Thorne	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-03-05	Dunnville, Ontario	Bonnyville (AJHL)	—
23		Jackson MacNab	Junior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-07-03	Indianapolis, Indiana	Notre Dame (Big Ten)	—
24		John Gelatt	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-04-29	Middletown, New Jersey	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
26		Liam Connors	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-02-01	Westborough, Massachusetts	Connecticut (NCDC)	—
27		Matt Slick (C)	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	214 lb (97 kg)	1999-03-13	Buffalo, New York	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
29		Erik Gordon	Senior	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	1999-01-05	Duluth, Georgia	Calgary Canucks (AJHL)	—
30		Matt Radomsky	Junior	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-06-21	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Steinbach (MJHL)	—
33		Thomas Gale	Freshman	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-06-10	Kirkland, Quebec	P. A. L. (NCDC)	—
34		Anthony Vincent (A)	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-08-12	Wilton, Connecticut	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
39		Tyler Ghirardosi	Sophomore	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-10-01	Montrose, British Columbia	Quinnipiac (ECAC)	—
40		Erkka Vänskä	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	168 lb (76 kg)	1998-02-15	Espoo, Finland	Fairbanks (NAHL)	—

Crusaders in the NHL[]

Source:^[9]