Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – Sophomore Dale Reinhardt (Livingston, NJ/Delbarton) scored the game-winning goal late in the third quarter and senior Tony Quesada (South Freeport, ME/Holderness) recorded 33 saves to lead Holy Cross to a 3-2 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in the second game of the 55th Annual Rensselaer/Bank of America Holiday Tournament at the Houston Field House. With the victory, the Crusaders improve to 7-2-1 and advance to Saturday’s championship game (7pm) against the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The Engineers are now 6-5-3 and will play Providence College in Saturday’s consolation game (4pm).
Quesada had an impressive night, stopping 33 of 35 shots, including eight saves in the first period, eleven in the second period and 14 in the third to improve to 5-1-1 overall.
After a scoreless first period in which the Crusaders killed off a 5-on-3 five-minute power play, Holy Cross tallied at 14:30 of the second period when junior James Sixsmith scored off his own rebound past Rensselaer goalie Mathias Lange (Klagenfurt, Austria/New York Apple Core). After collecting the puck in the neutral zone, Sixsmith broke in on Lange, who made the initial save but could not hold onto the rebound.
The Crusaders went up 2-0 at 9:37 in the third period when they converted a 3-on-1 break. Sophomore Cal St. Denis (Freelton, ON/Hamilton Red Wings) registered the goal when he buried the rebound of a Jon Landry (Lexington, MA/Nobles) shot. Dewey Thomson (Northbridge, MA/St. Paul’s) also assisted on the goal.
Rensselaer battled back, scoring two goals 14 seconds apart to tie the game. Senior defenseman Keith MCWilliams (Valencia, CA/Omaha Lancers) ripped a slap-shot from the bottom of the right circle into the net at 11:10 and senior Kevin Croxton (Calgary, AB/Camrose Kodiaks) scored over the shoulder of Quesada to tie the game. Mark Yurkewecz (Troy, NY/Cushing Academy) and Jake Morissette (Fruitvale, BC/Williams Lake) assisted on MCWilliams’s goal while Brad Farynuk (Enderby, BC/Vernon) and Oren Eizenman (Toronto, ON/Wexford) set up Croxton’s tally.
Reinhardt broke the tie when he finished another Holy Cross 3-on-1 at 14:59. Sixsmith picked up the primary assist while Landry got the secondary helper.
Lange stopped 15 of 18 shots in the loss for Rensselaer, which saw its four-game unbeaten streak (2-0-2) snapped.
