SUNDAY ROUNDUP: Holy Cross completes upset of No. 20 RIT, advances to first AHA final since 2006, will face Canisius; North Dakota, St. Cloud State both rally for Game 3 wins, will match up in NCHC semis

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North Dakota’s offense exploded to score the final four goals of the game, rallying for a game 3 victory over Omaha to advance to the NCHC semifinals. The Fighting Hawks will face St. Cloud State, a winner over Minnesota Duluth on Sunday, in Friday’s semifinals (Photo: UND Athletics)

Holy Cross jumped to a 2-0 lead on goals 67 seconds apart late in the first period and never looked back, skating to a 5-1 victory over top seed RIT in the third and deciding game of the Atlantic Hockey tournament.

The Crusaders return to the Atlantic Hockey title game for the first time since 2006, when Holy Cross captured the title before going onto what is still concerned one of college hockey’s biggest upset, an overtime victory over Minnesota.

Jack Ricketts opened the scoring at 17:15 of the first before Grayson Constable scored his first of two goals on the afternoon at 12:22.

RIT pulled within a goal on Grady Hobbs’ tally at 9:09 of the second, but Holy Cross had a response. Constable’s goal with 1:26 left in the second period helped regain the two-goal advantage.

The Crusaders added two empty-net goals late, including one by Liam McLinskey, who finished the three-game series with four goals.

Holy Cross will face fourth-seed Canisius in Saturday’s Atlantic Hockey title game at HarborCenter in Buffalo. The Griffs beat Buffalo-area rival Niagara on Sunday in game 3 when J.D. Pogue broke a 2-2 deadlock with 15:21 remaining in regulation. Simon Gravel added an insurance tally on the power play at 10:33 giving Canisius a 4-2 victory.

NCHC Quarterfinals

North Dakota exploded for the game’s final four goals, including three in a span of less than two minutes late in the third period to blow open game 3 against host Omaha, taking the series, two-games-to-one.

The Fighting Hawks will face St. Cloud State in the NCHC semifinals next Friday.

St. Cloud State rallied from a 5-1 loss to Minnesota Duluth in Saturday’s game two with a 3-1 victory in Sunday’s third-and-deciding game.

North Dakota found itself trailing 2-1 after Cameron Berg gave the host Mavericks a lead in the second. Dylan James scored shorthanded with 29 seconds remaining in the second to even the game at 2.

That was when North Dakota’s offense exploded. Griffen Ness tallied the goal-ahead goal with 5:14 left before both Tyler Kleven and Gavin Hain added insurance tallies shortly thereafter.

The series win for North Dakota is its first to come on the road since 1995.

In St. Cloud, the Huskies scored the game’s final three goals after falling behind early on Luke Loheit’s goal for Minnesota Duluth.

The three-goal outburst for St. Cloud State came in the middle frame when Cooper Wylie, Adam Ingram and Grant Achan each scored in less than six minutes.

Both North Dakota and St. Cloud State will join top-seed Denver and seventh-seed Colorado College in St. Paul for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, beginning Friday.

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