Holy Cross Crusaders The Holy Cross Crusaders are a Men ' s Division I team in Atlantic Hockey and a Women ' s Division I team who play a Division III schedule in the ECAC East . Men ' s program . The Holy Cross Crusaders men ' s ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) Division I college ice hockey program that represents 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 . Men ' s Program History . Holy Cross men ' s ice hockey began in 1966 . The team played as an independent NCAA Division I team from its inception in 1966 through 1998 . The Crusaders joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference ( MAAC ) for ice hockey beginning in the 1998 - 99 season . That same season the team won the MAAC Tournament Championship . In 2003 ice hockey was split from the MAAC and became the Atlantic Hockey Association , a hockey - only conference . In its history , the Holy Cross ice hockey program has seen two NCAA appearances , and has won the Atlantic Hockey and MAAC three times ( 1999 , 2004 , 2006 ) . In 2004 after beating Sacred Heart 4 – 0 to win the Atlantic Hockey Championship , the team received a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program ' s history . The Crusaders lost in the NCAA West Regional Semifinal to North Dakota 0 – 3 . Men ' s Program Year by Year . On March 24 , 2006 , the Holy Cross men ' s hockey team made history by defeating the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament by the score of 4 – 3 , in overtime . Coined as one of the biggest upsets in NCAA ice hockey history . The upset was the first time a fifteen or sixteen seed beat a number one or two seed , since the field was expanded to sixteen teams . Women ' s Program . As a result of the New England Hockey Conference planning on being strictly a Division III conference starting with the 2017 - 18 season Holy Cross announced in late October 2016 that it would elevate its women ' s program to full Division I status for the 2017 - 18 season . The school has been rumored to be eventually moving its men ' s program to Hockey East as a replacement for the departing Notre Dame Fighting Irish men ' s ice hockey program which is leaving the conference for the Big Ten Conference for the 2017 - 18 season . The move of the men ' s program would appparently force the school to elevate the women ' s program to Division I , the men ' s program would also be forced into a larger arena as Hockey East requires a minimum capacity of 4 , 000 . The only facility that big in the area would be the DCU Center , which the school has used for several games in 2016 against defending national champion Providence College and in - state rival Boston College The school stated that is was hoping to announce a conference affiliation for its women ' s program in December or January . The three options for affiliation are College Hockey America , ECAC and Hockey East . In mid - January of 2017 the team was announced as forming a six team alliance with the Sacred Heart Pioneers , Franklin Pierce Ravens , Post University Eagles , St . Anselm Hawks , and St . Michael ' s Purple Knights . The teams will play 20 games among themselves and hold a tournament at the end of the season to determine a champion .