Holy Cross Crusaders The Holy Cross Crusaders are the athletic teams representing the College of the Holy Cross . They compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Patriot League . The men ' s and women ' s ice hockey teams compete in Atlantic Hockey Association and women ' s golf in the Big South Conference . Of its 25 varsity teams , Holy Cross supports twelve men ' s and thirteen women ' s The carrying of 23 Division I varsity programs gives Holy Cross the largest ratio of teams - per - enrollment in the country . Holy Cross ' s athletic teams for both men and women are known as the Crusaders . It is a founding member of the Patriot League , and boasts that one - quarter of its student body participates in its varsity athletic programs . Principal facilities include Fitton Field for football ( capacity : 23 , 500 ) , Hart Recreation Center ( Basketball 3 , 600 ) , ( Ice Hockey 1 , 400 ) , Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium , ( 1 , 320 ) and Smith Wellness Center , located inside the Hart Center . Nickname . It is reported that the name " Crusader " was first associated with Holy Cross in 1884 at an alumni banquet in Boston , where an engraved Crusader mounted on an armored horse appeared at the head of the menu . The name was rediscovered by Stanley Woodward , a sports reporter for the " Boston Herald " , when he used the term " Crusader " to describe the Holy Cross baseball team in a story written in 1925 . The name appealed to the Holy Cross student body , which held a vote later in that year to decide whether this cognomen or one of the other two currently in use - " Chiefs " and " Sagamores " - would be adopted . On October 6 , 1925 , " The Tomahawk " , an earlier name of the student newspaper , reported that the results of the ballot were : Crusaders 143 , Chiefs 17 , Sagamores 7 . School colors . The school color is purple . There are two theories of how Holy Cross chose purple as its official color . One suggests it was derived from the royal purple used by King Constantine the Great ( born about 275 A . D . , died in 337 AD ) as displayed on his labarum ( military standard ) and on those of later Christian emperors of Rome . The other version is attributed to Walter J . Connors , an 1887 graduate , and was printed in the October 1940 issue of the Alumnus . According to the account , there was a disagreement during the 1870s between Holy Cross students from Massachusetts and Connecticut concerning the schools ' baseball uniform colors . Those from Massachusetts purportedly favored the crimson of Harvard , while those from Connecticut favored the deep blue of Yale . Legend has it that a fellow student with a sense of diplomacy resolved the dispute in the chemistry lab , where he mixed copper sulphate ( blue ) with iron oxide ( red ) to produce the color of deep purple . Sports . Baseball . The men ' s baseball team won the NCAA National Championship 1952 . The baseball team of Holy Cross remains the only team from the northeastern part of the United States to have won the College World Series . The Crusaders also made the College World Series in 1958 , 1962 , and 1963 . In the last two of these seasons , the team featured pitcher Dick Joyce , who briefly made the major leagues , and third baseman John Peterman , who after a short minor - league career went on to become a successful entrepreneur who was parodied on " Seinfeld " . Basketball . Women ' s basketball . The women ' s basketball team has also made several appearances in the postseason including 12 trips to the NCAA Tournament as well as one appearance in both the Women ' s National Invitation Tournament and the Women ' s Basketball Invitational . They are 1 - 12 in the NCAA Tournament with the lone win coming in 1991 as an upset over the 6th seeded Maryland . This is the only victory in the NCAA Tournament for any team from the Patriot League . They are 0 - 1 in the WNIT and 1 - 1 in the WBI having defeated the University of New Hampshire in 2012 . 6 time Patriot League Coach of the Year Bill Gibbons recorded his 500th win early in the 2011 - 2012 campaign . Ice hockey . On March 24 , 2006 , the Holy Cross men ' s hockey team made history by defeating the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota 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 , never since the NCAA tourney expanded to sixteen teams had a fifteen or sixteen seed beat a number one or two seed until again in 2009 when the 16th seeded Bemidji State University Beavers defeated the second seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish by a score of 5 - 1 . 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 ) . The ice hockey program competes in the Atlantic Hockey Association in men ' s hockey and the Division III ECAC East division in women ' s ice hockey . Other sports . In 2006 , the women ' s lacrosse team made its first NCAA Tournament appearance , defeating Colgate in the Patriot League championship game prior to beating LeMoyne in the NCAA play - in game . In addition , the Holy Cross rowing teams , both men and women , have enjoyed success over the years . Key highlights include the women ' s team winning the ECAC National Championship in 2002 , and the men ' s team being ranked within the national top 20 every season beginning in 2004 . In 2000 the Women ' s Varsity Lightweight 8 won a New England championship . As of 2007 , the men ' s crew is the reigning Patriot League Champion and has won the league championship several times ( 2001 , 2002 , 2003 , and 2005 ) . Similarly , the women ' s team has enjoyed similar success within the conference and won continuous league championships from 1998 to 2003 . Both teams compete in the Patriot League , with the women ' s team also holding membership in the New England Rowing Conference ( NERC ) , and the Eastern College Athletic Conference . In 2007 , the men ' s crew was granted a two - year provisional acceptance into the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges ( EARC ) , which is composed of the traditional Ivy League schools plus other select universities . The Men ' s soccer program was cited by the NCAA for committing " major " violations under former head coach Elvis Comrie over a period of time covering a number of years . According to the NCAA , more than 300 impermissible phone calls were made to several prospective student - athletes by Comrie , many before the contact period and others that exceeded weekly limits . The committee also found that the school failed to have adequate systems in place to monitor recruiting phone calls made by former coach Elvis Comrie . Comrie resigned at the end of the 2008 season after 18 years at Holy Cross . Holy Cross self - reported the violations to the NCAA and HC ’ s self - imposed penalties for the violations included recruiting restrictions and reduction of scholarships . “ We pride ourselves on doing athletics the right way , ” Holy Cross director of athletics Dick Regan said , “ so this is very disappointing . It is an anathema . We feel we handled it the right way , we paid the price , and we ’ re moving forward . ” The NCAA considered the impermissible phone calls as major violations , but did not ban the Crusaders from postseason play . Boston College rivalry . Historically , Holy Cross ' major rival has been the Eagles of Boston College , especially in football . In 1896 , Holy Cross and Boston College played the first football game between the two schools starting one of the most storied rivalries in college football . For much of the early to mid 20th century , BC and The Cross drew some of New England ' s largest sports crowds . To accommodate larger crowds , the Holy Cross game was routinely held at larger venues off campus , with the 1916 matchup taking place at the newly constructed Fenway Park . A record 54 , 000 attended the 1922 game at Braves Field , home of the Boston Braves baseball team . On November 28 , 1942 , Holy Cross beat BC in a huge upset by a score of 55 - 12 , a result that proved fortunate for the losing Eagles . The BC team had booked their victory party for a popular Boston nightclub , but canceled after the upset loss . As a result , the Eagles were not among the nearly 500 who died or the hundreds more who were injured when the nightclub caught fire that night . By the late 1970s the Holy Cross game had become more of a tradition than a rivalry , as Holy Cross football began to ceased as a major power . By 1980 , the game was no longer part of the student ticket package , and was mostly attended by alumni . In 1986 Holy Cross changed the direction of its football program , joining the Division 1 - AA Patriot League , and terminated the series . BC had won 17 of the last 20 games . The last basketball game between the two schools was played on January 17 , 2006 , a 63 - 53 win for Boston College at Worcester ' s DCU Center . Later that year , BC ' s athletic director , Gene DeFilippo , caused a minor controversy when he announced that the school would not schedule any more basketball games against Holy Cross , claiming that it was not beneficial for BC . The two schools renewed their rivalry in basketball on November 22 , 2010 as part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight , a national effort to bring attention to Jesuit education . In a game held at BC ' s Conte Forum , Boston College posted a 69 - 56 victory , the Eagles ' 16th in their last 17 games against Holy Cross . On November 18 , 2011 , the Crusaders defeated the Eagles 86 - 64 in Worcester .