Holy Cross men's hockey loses at Canisius in AHA championship game
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Unfortunately, the Holy Cross men's hockey team's roll in March fell short of an NCAA Tournament berth.
Canisius scored late in the second period and two empty-net goals in the third Saturday while upending the Crusaders, 3-0, in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament final at the LECOM Harborcenter.
The Golden Griffins secured the association's automatic slot in the NCAA Tournament, which will announce its pairings Sunday.
Canisius made it three straight wins over Holy Cross, having won the final two meetings to finish the regular season.
The Griffs, the fourth seed in the tournament, carries a 20-18-3 record into the NCAAs. Seventh-seeded Holy Cross finishes 17-21-3.
After a scoreless first period, Canisius got on the board with 2:01 remaining in the second, when Nick Bowman scored his 10th goal of the season, assisted by Jackson Decker and David Melaragni.
Holy Cross' Jason Grande had 12 saves through two periods, while Canisius' Jacob Barczewski had 16.
The teams were playing a scoreless third period, before HC pulled Grande for the extra attacker. But Canisius withstood any threat when Markus Boguslavsky scored with 1:28 remaining and Keaton Mastrodonato added another insurance scored 25 seconds later.
Grande finished the game with saves on 22 of the 23 shots fired his way. Barczewski posted the shutout with 24 stops.
Holy Cross played its most inspired hockey of the season during its seven-game run in the AHA tourney, all on the road.
The Crusaders took two of three games from AIC in Springfield in the quarterfinals and two of three from 20th-ranked RIT in Rochester in the semis.
Grande was a key during the run, especially when he turned aside 102 of 107 shots in the three games against RIT.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Holy Cross men's hockey loses at Canisius in AHA championship game
