Ice Hockey dominates dot, shots to down Holy Cross

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College ice hockey team dominated the faceoff dot and controlled play for most of the night in a 4-1 win over its Atlantic Hockey Association foe, The College of the Holy Cross, on Thursday, November 9.

AIC improves to 3-5-0 and 2-1-0-0-0-0 in the AHA with the win.

In the first period, the Yellow Jackets opened the scoring. A strong play by defenseman Casper Soderling helped keep the puck in at the right point, and he was able to dish to Jordan Biro. Biro cut down the slot and made a pass to Julius Janhonen below the goal line, and then took the return feed from his center to fire a one-timer at goalkeeper Thomas Gale. Gale was able to get to the initial opportunity, but the rebound kicked into the left faceoff circle, where Soderling had snuck to after his initial keep in. He was able to backhand the rebound off of a prone Gale and in at 7:35 for his first collegiate goal.

AIC drew five first-period penalties, but did not convert any of those power plays. That changed in the second period. A faceoff win by Alexander Malinowski put the Yellow Jackets in control, and Kramer passed it across from the left point to the right where Biro waited. He sent it back across the blue line to Kramer in the middle, and Kramer picked the corner through the screen Malinowski set on Gale for his third of the season at 13:49.

The Crusaders finally broke the shutout in the third period; just after a penalty to AIC expired, Tyler Ghirardosi found himself free in the left circle, and his wrister as he drove toward the net just snuck past Nils Wallstrom and in at 10:40 to cut AIC's lead to one.

Holy Cross pushed desperately, and pulled Gale for a sixth attacker with three minutes to play. The strategy did not pay off, as Austin Long, Dustin Manz, and Timofei Khokhlachev were able to work the puck forward off of the faceoff, with Khokhlachev putting it into the empty net for his second of the year at 17:15; just 1:18 later, Casey McDonald potted another empty netter, his second goal of the year, to truly seal it with a 4-1 final.

In all, AIC outshot the Crusaders 42-21. That came from possession domination thanks to a 51-15 mark on draws, with Manz going 18 for 24, Janhonen winning 13 of 19, Brett Rylance succeeding in 11 of 13, and Oscar Geschwind taking seven of eight.

The two teams will complete the two-game set on Friday, November 10 at 7:05 p.m. at the Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.