Men's Hockey | 11/17/2012 5:17:00 PM

Box Score

WORCESTER, MA - Adam Schmidt recorded a hat trick for Holy Cross (7-2-0, 6-2-0 AHA) as the Crusaders defeated RIT (2-7-1, 1-4-1 AHA) by a final score of 7-3 from the Hart Center on Saturday afternoon. The loss extends the Tigers losing streak to three games.

The Crusaders jumped out to an early lead in the first period. After Anthony Hamburg (Phoenix, AZ/Omaha Lancers) was whistled for a cross-checking penalty, Holy Cross took the ensuing face off and Schmidt's shot from the point beat Ken MacLean (Concord, MA/Kalamazoo Wings) who was making his collegiate debut in net, at the 6:17 mark. 1:23 later, Ben Lynch (Blaine, MN/Lincoln Stars) controlled a loose puck in front of the goal and beat Holy Cross' goalie Matt Ginn, to knot the score at 1. At the 14:04 mark, RIT took their only lead of the game as Dan Schuler (Webster, NY/Powell River Kings) scored his first career goal with assists going to Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers) and Brad Mcgowan (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles). The Crusaders would answer 30 seconds later as Schmidt's second goal of the period tied the game at two.

For the period, RIT held a 14-10 advantage in shots.

Just under five minutes into the second period, Greg Noyes (Lucan, Ontario/Salmon Arm Silverbacks) notched a power-play goal on great passing by Mike Colavecchia (Maple, Ontario/Lindsay Muskies) and Chris Saracino (St. Louis, MO/Green Bay Gamblers). Noyes was fed right in front of an open net and scored to even the score. Holy Cross regained the lead under three minutes later as Castan Sommer took a feed and beat MacLean. With 50 seconds left in the period, Schmidt notched his third goal of the contest to give the Crusaders a 5-3 advantage.

Holy Cross was penalized early in the third period for having too many men on the ice, but a Tiger turnover led to a breakaway on the other end. Colavecchia took down the rushing Crusader, who was awarded a penalty shot. Jordan Ruby (Tavistock, Ontario/Wellington Dukes), who was inserted in goal at the start of the period, was equal to the task and forced the shot high with an aggressive play. After the penalty was killed, Mike McNamara took a loose puck and skated down the wing, firing a shot that beat Ruby and staked Holy Cross to a 6-3 advantage. The Crusaders would tack on another goal at the 13:17 mark as Ruby stopped the initial shot but Mark Williamson stuffed home the rebound.

The Tigers have been outscored 18-9 in their current three game losing streak.

For the game, Holy Cross  held a 40-31 advantage in shots. Ginn made 28 saves, moving to 7-1 on the season. MacLean finished with 20 saves and Ruby added 13.

RIT was 1-for-4 on the power-play, while the Crusaders converted on 1-of-7 attempts on the man advantage.

The two teams return to action tomorrow afternoon at 3:05 p.m.