Complete Box Score

ERIE, Pa. - The Crusaders of Holy Cross scored two goals in a 77-second span in the second period and held on to defeat the Mercyhurst men's hockey team by a 3-1 final on Saturday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The best-of-three series is now tied at a game apiece, with the decisive game three on Sunday night at 7:05 p.m.

Senior goaltender Max Strang had another brilliant night between the pipes for the Lakers, stopping 41-of-43 Holy Cross shots in defeat. The Crusaders tacked on an empty net goal in the closing seconds to seal the victory. Despite allowing two goals in the second period, Strang did his best work  as he kept the Lakers in the game with 22 stops in the second period alone.

The Crusaders, who feature nine seniors and six juniors on their roster, squared the series after Mercyhurst took the opener on Friday night by a 2-1 final.

The game was scoreless after a quiet opening period. Strang and his counterpart, Matt Ginn of Holy Cross, faced just 13 total shots in the opening twenty minutes, with the Crusaders holding an 8-5 shot advantage.

It would remain scoreless until Holy Cross broke through at the 14:18 mark of the second period. The reigning National Player of the Month, Adam Schmidt, snapped a shot from the right-wing circle that got over the shoulder of Strang and just under the crossbar, giving the visitors a 1-0 advantage. Mike Daly and Matt Clune had the assists.

Then, with the Lakers on the power play, the Crusaders' Andrew Cox picked the pocket of a Laker defenseman just inside the Holy Cross blue line and went one-on-one with Strang. Cox  beat Strang through the five-hole at the 15:35 mark, giving the Crusaders a 2-0 advantage. It was the fifth shorthanded goal that Mercyhurst has allowed this season, but the first since Wisconsin scored a pair on November 25.

Holy Cross peppered Strang with 24 shots during the second period, while the Lakers countered with 10 shots on Ginn.

The Lakers made a wardrobe change between the second and third periods and came out wearing their road green helmets after wearing their customary white ones for the first two periods. The superstition seemed to work as the Lakers came out with authority in the third period and finally broke through at the 7:41 mark. Freshman defenseman Tyler Shiplo took a shot from the right point. The blast appeared to change direction off  a Holy Cross defender in front and found the back of the net, cutting the Crusader lead to 2-1, and getting the fans back into the game. Senior Derek Elliott and freshman Chris Bodo had the assists.

Later in the period, Strang robbed Schmidt on a breakaway attempt, stacking the pads and keeping the score at a one-goal margin. However, the Lakers got bottled up inside their own end with less than a minute left, and couldn't get Strang off the ice until just 20 seconds were left in regulation. But, Schmidt intercepted freshman Nardo Nagtzaam in the neutral zone and found the empty net with just 16 ticks remaining, sealing the victory for Holy Cross and sending the series to a decisive game three.

Holy Cross outshot Mercyhurst 12-11 in the third period and finished with a 44-26 shot advantage for the contest.

Strang stopped 41-of-43 in defeat, dropping to 15-13-3 on the season. It was the 16th time this season that the senior has allowed two goals or fewer in a game, and it marked his seventh 40-plus-save performance of the season.

Ginn stopped 25-of-26 Mercyhurst shots to improve to 17-7-2 in his rookie season with the Crusaders.

Neither team could crack the scoreboard on the power play. Mercyhurst finished 0-for-6 with the man advantage, while Holy Cross was 0-for-4. The Crusaders did, however, get the shorthanded goal from Cox, which happened to be the game-winner.

Game three will take place at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Sunday night, March 11, with the drop of the puck scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The winner of tomorrow's game will advance to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y. next Friday, March 16, with the Championship game the following night.