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Men's Ice Hockey
This year's Holy Cross men's ice hockey team is off to its
best start since 1997-98. Currently the Crusaders stand at
8-5-2 overall, 5-2-2 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
After back-to-back seasons with a sub .500 record, Holy Cross
looks to be returning to the success they enjoyed during
the 1998-99 season when the team won a school record 22 games.
Picked to finish ninth in the MAAC preseason coaches poll,
the Crusaders have been the early season surprise in the
conference, currently standing in third place.
Having collected three victories over MAAC foe Bentley,
the Crusaders have also split with conference rivals Iona
and Fairfield. Holy Cross gained early season momentum when
the team traveled west to take on last year's MAAC tournament
champion, Mercyhurst, along with nemesis Canisius on consecutive
nights. The Crusaders managed a 5-5 tie against the NCAA
participant, Oilers, and then followed up that performance
on the following night with a hard fought 3-3 draw with Golden
Griffs in Buffalo to collect two points in the standings.
Holy Cross then traveled even farther west to record its
first win against a non-conference opponent since becoming
a Division I participant at the start of the 1997-98 season
when the team defeated Air Force Academy, 7-6, in Colorado
Springs in its final of a two game set with the Falcons.
Since then the Crusaders have picked up two more out of conference
wins with a sweep of Findlay.
Defenseman R.J. Irving '04 (Marlboro, Mass.) leads the
Crusaders in points (20), is tied for first in assists (13)
and is second in goals (7). He has already tied his point
total from his first-year campaign (20points/32 games) in
15 games this season. Irving leads the MAAC in defenseman
scoring, averaging 1.33 points per game. He was recognized
by the conference on Nov. 19, as the MAAC/ITECH Player of
the Week.
Assistant captains Patrick Rissmiller '02 (Belmont, Mass.),
and Brandon Doria '03 (Bayonne, N.J.) along with Greg Kealey
'04 (Nepean, Ontario), and J.R. Walker '04 (Faribault, Minn.)
join Irving on a very potent first line that has produced
77-of-135 (57 percent) points that the Crusaders have tallied
this season.
Rissmiller captured his 100th career point on Oct. 26, when
he notched a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win over Bentley.
He currently has 112 career points, putting him in sole possession
of 25th place on Holy Cross' career scoring list. Doria is
tied for the Crusaders' lead in assists (13) this season
with Irving; he has scored at least one point in 12 of the
15 games played. Doria was also honored by the MAAC with
ITECH Player of the Week honors for the week ending Nov.
10. Kealey, who currently leads the Crusaders in goals (8),
accounted for game-winning goals in back-to-back games against
Air Force (Oct. 20) and at Bentley (Oct. 26).
Walker, a steady defenseman, registered his first career
game-winning goal against Bentley on Nov. 17. Tim Coskren
'04 (Walpole, Mass.) and Jeff Dams '04 (Manotick, Ontario)
have also contributed to the Crusaders' third-ranked MAAC
scoring offense. Coskren has tallied a least one point in
his last four games while Dams ranks second on the team in
power play goals with four.
Another reason for Holy Cross' success this season has been
the play of its pair of goaltenders, Derek Cunha '02 (New
Bedford, Mass.) and Rick Massey '04 (Weymouth, Mass.). Cunha
has posted an impressive 5-2-1 record, while having a .900
save percentage, and a 3.36 goals against average. Massey,
3-3-1 this season, notched his first career shutout on Oct.
17 and then posted his second shutout against Fairfield on
Dec. 4.
The Crusaders need to continue to play well down the stretch
as they prepare for the MAAC Ice Hockey Tournament which
will be held at the Hart Center on March 14-16, 2002. The
winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the
NCAA Tournament.
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