Biro's three-point night helps Ice Hockey top Holy Cross in shootout

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - Though the American Internaitonal College ice hockey team never once touched the puck with a lead, the Yellow Jackets nevertheless took two points with a 3-3 tie and 3-2 shootout win in six rounds over their Atlantic Hockey Association foe, The College of the Holy Cross, on Friday, January 5.

AIC is now 12-8-1 overall and holds a mark of 8-4-1-1-1-0 in the AHA for 25 points. 

Despite strong play from the Yellow Jackets early on, it was Holy Cross scoring first on an odd goal at 13:25 as a Matt DeBoer centering pass deflected into the net.

However, AIC was rewarded for strong play with a late-period tying goal. Tomi Leppanen set up Brian Kramer for a zone entry, and Kramer made a fantastic move at the right point to elude a defender before finding Jordan Biro open in the slot. The senior shot home his third of the season at 18:09.

After a tightly contested, scoreless second that saw both Thomas Gale and Nils Wallstrom make impressive saves, the Crusaders caught AIC at the end of a power play, with Jack Ricketts firing to the newly-released Jack Seymour to put him on a breakaway, and he struck the target at 6:37.

AIC pushed back, and the fourth line came up clutch. Dario Beljo drove down the slot and left a drop pass for Biro. His one-timer was saved, but Austen Long was waiting at the right post to put in the rebound for his fourth of the year at 9:45. Beljo's assist was his first collegiate point.

The Crusaders regained the lead with a sharp angle shot from the right side of the net at 12:22, with John Gelatt firing home the tally on a feed from DeBoer, giving each player on the third line for Holy Cross a goal in the game. However, AIC answered back on the next shift. A shot from Evan Stella was deflected down in front by Beljo, and Long knocked the puck to Biro, who swept in the tying strike at 13:00 for his fourth of the season.

Despite more chances at both ends, neither team scored in regulation, and key opportunities were either missed or denied by the goalkeepers in the extra session, forcing a shootout.

In the extra session, Lucas Thorne scored to open, but Wallstrom stopped Matt Guerra and Michael Hodge before John Lundy tied the contest, forcing extra rounds. Alec Cicero and Alfred Lindberg both scored in the fourth, while DeBoer and Biro were shut down in the fifth. The sixth round ended things - after Seymour was poke-checked successfully, Julius Janhonen beat Gale to give AIC the second AHA point.

Wallstrom, who moved to 11-7-1, made 24 saves.

With impending inclement weather, the teams will conclude the season series earlier than anticipated. The final game's start time is now at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday, January 6 in Worcester, Massachusetts at the Hart Center.