Three things from this weekend’s action in Atlantic Hockey
1. Holy Cross prevents a shutout – The league did a decent job the previous week in a plethora of non-conference games, but this past weekend was a different story. AHA teams went 1-8-2 out of league, with only the Crusaders posting a win. Goaltender Matt Ginn led the way with 36 saves as the Crusaders beat the Golden Knights on the road 3-1. After being hooked on a breakaway, senior Brandon Nunn converted on a penalty shot in the third period to seal the deal.
“I was deciding whether or not to watch it,” Pearl told the Watertown Daily Times. “I was going to let the crowd reaction tell me what happened. But Brandon made a beautiful shot.”
The win avenged a 5-0 loss to Clarkson last year at Holy Cross. The Golden Knights have another shot at the AHA when they host Niagara this weekend.
2. Ya gotta protect the lead – In five of the the ten games Atlantic Hockey teams didn’t win this past weekend (0-8-2), the AHA team had a lead but didn’t hold it. Both nights Niagara played at Michigan State, the Purple Eagles had a 2-0 lead going into the third period, but lost on Friday and had to settle for a tie on Saturday.
Niagara lost the ensuing shootout on Saturday while Mercyhurst won theirs after losing a third period lead and tying Ferris State. Both games were in CCHA rinks, and the league uses that abominable practice. At least in these games, the shootout didn’t count. They actually award points for the thing in conference play.
3. Buffalo State is better than Michigan? If you play the game of comparing scores, this can be claimed. The Division III Bengals defeated Penn State 3-0 on Friday, and the Nittany Lions turned around the beat Rochester Institute of Technology 3-2 on Saturday. The Tigers defeated Michigan 5-4 in overtime on Oct. 11. As Mercyhurst forward Matt Zay said in reaction to this question on my Twitter feed:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/Zay_Matt/status/259864086215536640″]
