# 2022–23 Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey season was the 57th season of play for the program, the 25th at the Division I level, and the 20th in the Atlantic Hockey conference. The Crusaders represented the College of the Holy Cross and were coached by Bill Riga, in his 2nd season.

## Season

Due in part to having to find a new starting goaltender, Holy Cross got off to a poor start. The Crusaders won just 2 out of their first 15 games. By the end of November, the team was one of the worst clubs in college hockey both on offense and defense. The Crusaders had scored more than 2 goals in a game on just 2 occasions, which coincidentally were their only wins to that point. Jason Grand got a third turn in goal as the team's starter and that seemed to work like a charm. Beginning with their match against New Hampshire, the Crusaders suddenly found life and won three games in a row. Their inspired play continued and the club lost just once over an 8-game stretch. On offense, Jack Ricketts began taking over as the team's primary scorer and, seemingly overnight, Holy Cross was managing to score goals as well.
Though there were some hiccups, Holy Cross posted a winning record over the second half of the season and crept up to 7th in the conference standings. The Crusaders faced American International in the quarterfinals, who had won every league championship over the previous 4 seasons. After dropping the opening game, Holy Cross was facing the end of their season when the Yellow Jackets score the first two goals of the rematch. Just before the end of the second, Liam McLinskey scored to cut the lead in half and began a run of 4 consecutive goals from the Crusaders. McLinskey notched the last of those markers which turned out to be the game-winner after AIC potted a third goal after pulling their goalie. McLinskey again opened CHC's scoring in the deciding game before AIC and the Crusader power play began to trade goals. A scoreless third period ended with the score tied 3–3 but Holy Cross was controlling the pace of the game. The Crusaders continued to press in overtime and attacked the AIC cage. Eventually McLinskey managed to stop a clearing attempt and then scored off of a rebound to quiet a nearly empty arena.
Holy Cross had made the conference semifinal for the first time since 2006 and their reward was facing the best team in the conference, RIT. In front of a much more boisterous and hostile crowd, Jason Grande had probably the best game of his career and stopped all 36 shots from the Tigers in regulation. The Crusaders, on the other hand, were limited to just 7 shots in the first two periods but began to warm up in the third. They more than doubled their shot total in the final 20 minutes but were unable to score themselves, sending the Crusaders into overtime once more. The play was a little more even in the extra session and, 8 minutes into the frame, Liam McLinskey got behind the defense and broke in alone on the RIT cage. After a deke, he slid the puck into the Tiger net for his sixth goal of the postseason and third consecutive game-winning goal.
Ordinarily, that goal would have sent Holy Cross to the title game, however, Atlantic Hockey had changed their postseason format that year and converted the semifinal round into a best-of-three series. Despite the reprieve for RIT, McLinskey gave the Crusaders a lead in the second game after scoring twice during a 5-on-3 power play. RIT was able to push Holy Cross into overtime yet again but this time the Crusaders came out on the losing end. While the series was tied, Holy Cross didn't panic and scored twice in the first period of the deciding game. RIT cut into the lead in the second but the Crusaders reestablished their 2-goal advantage before the start of the third. The defense held firm over the last 20 minutes, stifling the Tigers and preventing them from getting a second goal. When RIT pulled their goaltender, all that served to do was give the Crusaders an empty net to shoot at and they scored twice more, the last being McLinskey's 9th of the postseason, to cap a huge upset over the heavily favored Tigers.
With Holy Cross 1 win away from their first league championship in 17 years, The Crusaders ran into the only goalie in the conference as hot as Jason Grande. No matter how hard they tried, the Crusaders could not get a puck past Jacob Barczewski. Even after pulling Grand for an extra attacker, CHC was unable to score and lost the championship game 0–3.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Daniel Colabufo | Forward | United States | Transferred to Oswego State |
| Bryce Dolan | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Erik Gordon | Goaltender | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Michael Higgins | Defenseman | United States | Signed professional contract (HC ZUBR Přerov) |
| Jack Hillman | Defenseman | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Michael Kane | Forward | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Ryan Leibold | Forward | United States | Graduate transfer to Merrimack |
| Ryan Pineault | Defenseman | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Matt Radomsky | Goaltender | United States | Transferred to Alaska |
| Matt Slick | Defenseman | United States | Graduate transfer to Ferris State |
| Erkka Vänskä | Forward | Finland | Graduation (retired) |
| Anthony Vincent | Forward | United States | Graduate transfer to Long Island |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Jonathan Balah | Defenseman | Canada | 21 | Barrie, ON |
| Matt DeBoer | Forward | United States | 20 | Madison, NJ |
| Jason Grande | Goaltender | United States | 23 | West Chester, PA; transfer from Bentley |
| Louden Hogg | Goaltender | United States | 19 | Cheyenne, WY |
| Conner Jean | Forward | United States | 25 | Oakland, MI; transfer from Carleton |
| Liam McLinskey | Forward | United States | 21 | Pearl River, NY; transfer from Quinnipiac |
| Mack Oliphant | Defenseman | United States | 19 | Northbrook, IL |
| Devin Phillips | Forward | United States | 21 | Raleigh, NC |
| Jack Seymour | Defenseman | Canada | 21 | Chelsea, QC |
| Joe Solimine | Forward | United States | 20 | Middleton, MA |
| Charlie Spence | Defenseman | United States | 20 | Boston, MA |

## Roster

As of August 4, 2022.

## Standings

2022–23 Atlantic Hockey Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OW | OL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| RIT † | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 57 | 85 | 55 | 39 | 25 | 13 | 1 | 127 | 100 |
| American International | 26 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 47 | 87 | 62 | 39 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 124 | 98 |
| Sacred Heart | 26 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 87 | 72 | 37 | 17 | 17 | 3 | 107 | 112 |
| Canisius * | 26 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 76 | 71 | 42 | 20 | 19 | 3 | 118 | 119 |
| Army | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 39 | 72 | 81 | 37 | 14 | 19 | 4 | 98 | 119 |
| Niagara | 26 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 38 | 73 | 86 | 40 | 19 | 18 | 3 | 119 | 129 |
| Holy Cross | 26 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 73 | 71 | 41 | 17 | 21 | 3 | 98 | 119 |
| Mercyhurst | 26 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 35 | 77 | 80 | 36 | 10 | 23 | 3 | 98 | 122 |
| Bentley | 26 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 61 | 89 | 34 | 11 | 21 | 2 | 81 | 124 |
| Air Force | 26 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 63 | 87 | 36 | 12 | 22 | 2 | 95 | 128 |
| Championship: March 18, 2023 † indicates conference regular season champion (DeGregorio Trophy) * indicates conference tournament champion (Riley Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Exhibition ||||||||||
| October 1 | 7:30 PM | Boston College* | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts (Exhibition) | | | W 3–2 | | |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 7 | 8:07 PM | at #3 North Dakota* | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | Midco | Grande | L 0–6 | 11,181 | 0–1–0 |
| October 8 | 7:07 PM | at #3 North Dakota* | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | Midco | Hogg | L 1–4 | 11,376 | 0–2–0 |
| October 13 | 7:00 PM | Sacred Heart | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Gale | L 2–3 | 327 | 0–3–0 (0–1–0) |
| October 14 | 7:00 PM | Sacred Heart | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Hogg | L 1–5 | 246 | 0–4–0 (0–2–0) |
| October 18 | 7:00 PM | at American International | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Grande | W 7–3 | 254 | 1–4–0 (1–2–0) |
| October 22 | 7:00 PM | at Vermont* | Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont | ESPN+ | Grande | L 0–6 | 3,047 | 1–5–0 |
| October 28 | 7:00 PM | at RIT | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York | FloHockey | Gale | L 2–5 | 2,716 | 1–6–0 (1–3–0) |
| October 29 | 7:00 PM | at RIT | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York | FloHockey | Gale | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 1,905 | 1–7–0 (1–4–0) |
| November 4 | 7:00 PM | at Canisius | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Gale | W 3–1 | 707 | 2–7–0 (2–4–0) |
| November 5 | 4:00 PM | at Canisius | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York | FloHockey | Gale | T 2–2 $^{SOW}$ | 919 | 2–7–1 (2–4–1) |
| November 15 | 7:00 PM | at American International | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Gale | L 1–4 | 193 | 2–8–1 (2–5–1) |
| November 18 | 6:00 PM | Mercyhurst | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Gale | L 1–3 | 517 | 2–9–1 (2–6–1) |
| November 19 | 2:30 PM | Mercyhurst | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Gale | L 1–4 | 307 | 2–10–1 (2–7–1) |
| November 22 | 4:00 PM | at #13 Merrimack* | J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts | ESPN+ | Hogg | L 1–5 | 1,468 | 2–11–1 |
| November 25 | 7:00 PM | at Brown* | Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island | ESPN+ | Gale | L 0–3 | 574 | 2–12–1 |
| November 26 | 7:00 PM | New Hampshire* | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Grande | W 3–2 | 408 | 3–12–1 |
| December 2 | 9:00 PM | at Air Force | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | FloHockey | Grande | W 4–1 | 1,427 | 4–12–1 (3–7–1) |
| December 3 | 7:00 PM | at Air Force | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | FloHockey | Grande | W 2–1 | 1,493 | 5–12–1 (4–7–1) |
| December 30 | 7:00 PM | #2 Quinnipiac* | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Grande | L 1–4 | 750 | 5–13–1 |
| January 7 | 4:00 PM | Clarkson* | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Grande | T 1–1 $^{OT}$ | 379 | 5–13–2 |
| January 13 | 7:00 PM | Air Force | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Grande | W 5–2 | 462 | 6–13–2 (5–7–1) |
| January 15 | 4:00 PM | Air Force | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Grande | W 4–1 | 321 | 7–13–2 (6–7–1) |
| January 20 | 7:00 PM | at Sacred Heart | Martire Family Arena • Fairfield, Connecticut | FloHockey, SNY | Gale | T 2–2 $^{SOL}$ | 4,223 | 7–13–3 (6–7–2) |
| January 21 | 7:00 PM | at Sacred Heart | Martire Family Arena • Fairfield, Connecticut | FloHockey, SNY | Gale | L 1–4 | 4,296 | 7–14–3 (6–8–2) |
| January 27 | 7:00 PM | #19 RIT | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Grande | L 3–4 | 598 | 7–15–3 (6–9–2) |
| January 28 | 7:00 PM | #19 RIT | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Grande | W 4–3 $^{OT}$ | 517 | 8–15–3 (7–9–2) |
| February 3 | 7:00 PM | at Bentley | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Grande | W 4–1 | 1,678 | 9–15–3 (8–9–2) |
| February 4 | 4:00 PM | at Bentley | Bentley Arena • Waltham, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Gale | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 1,246 | 10–15–3 (9–9–2) |
| February 10 | 7:00 PM | at Army | Tate Rink • West Point, New York | FloHockey | Gale | L 2–5 | 2,129 | 10–16–3 (9–10–2) |
| February 11 | 4:00 PM | at Army | Tate Rink • West Point, New York | FloHockey | Hogg | W 7–0 | 1,976 | 11–16–3 (10–10–2) |
| February 17 | 7:00 PM | Niagara | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Hogg | W 4–3 | 475 | 12–16–3 (11–10–2) |
| February 18 | 7:00 PM | Niagara | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Gale | W 3–0 | 480 | 13–16–3 (12–10–2) |
| February 24 | 7:00 PM | Canisius | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Gale | L 0–3 | 576 | 13–17–3 (12–11–2) |
| February 25 | 7:00 PM | Canisius | Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | FloHockey | Gale | L 3–6 | 304 | 13–18–3 (12–12–2) |
| Atlantic Hockey Tournament ||||||||||
| March 3 | 1:05 pm | at American International* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Grande | L 1–3 | 147 | 13–19–3 |
| March 4 | 1:05 pm | at American International* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Grande | W 4–3 | 264 | 14–19–3 |
| March 5 | 1:05 pm | at American International* | MassMutual Center • Springfield, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal Game 3) | FloHockey | Grande | W 4–3 | 297 | 15–19–3 |
| March 10 | 7:05 PM | #20 RIT* | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York (Semifinal Game 1) | FloHockey | Grande | W 1–0 $^{OT}$ | 2,442 | 16–19–3 |
| March 11 | 7:05 PM | #20 RIT* | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York (Semifinal Game 2) | FloHockey | Grande | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 2,622 | 16–20–3 |
| March 12 | 5:05 PM | #20 RIT* | Gene Polisseni Center • Henrietta, New York (Semifinal Game 3) | FloHockey | Grande | W 5–1 | 1,932 | 17–20–3 |
| March 18 | 7:05 PM | at Canisius* | LECOM Harborcenter • Buffalo, New York (Championship) | FloHockey | Grande | L 0–3 | 1,805 | 17–21–3 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Jack Ricketts | C | 41 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 32 |
| Liam McLinskey | F | 40 | 21 | 4 | 25 | 22 |
| Matt Guerra | F | 41 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 28 |
| Alex Peterson | F | 38 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 37 |
| Devin Phillips | F | 38 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 22 |
| Alec Cicero | F | 40 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 30 |
| Nick Hale | D | 36 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 28 |
| Tyler Ghirardosi | F | 37 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 31 |
| Matt Shatsky | D | 41 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 29 |
| Grayson Constable | F | 40 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 12 |
| Mack Oliphant | D | 41 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 10 |
| Lucas Thorne | C | 36 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 12 |
| Bobby Young | C | 36 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 32 |
| Matt DeBoer | W | 39 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 18 |
| Jake Higgins | D | 41 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 45 |
| Jack Robilotti | D | 41 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 55 |
| Conner Jean | C | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Charlie Spence | D | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| John Gelatt | F | 38 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 19 |
| Joe Solimine | C | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Jack MacNab | RW | 30 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Jack Seymour | RW | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Jonathan Balah | D | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Louden Hogg | G | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Liam Connors | F | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Thomas Gale | G | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Grande | G | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Total | | | 98 | 164 | 262 | 503 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Jason Grande | 20 | 1131:51 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 44 | 453 | 1 | .911 | 2.33 |
| Thomas Gale | 19 | 990:01 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 43 | 397 | 1 | .902 | 2.61 |
| Louden Hogg | 8 | 365:03 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 137 | 1 | .873 | 3.29 |
| Empty Net | - | 30:35 | - | - | - | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 41 | 2519:22 | 17 | 21 | 3 | 119 | 987 | 3 | .902 | 2.58 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | NR | - | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR |
| USA Today | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award |
| Jack Ricketts | Atlantic Hockey Second Team |
| Nick Hale | Atlantic Hockey Third Team |
| Mack Oliphant | Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team |
| Jack Robilotti | Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team |
| Liam McLinskey | Atlantic Hockey All-Tournament Team |