WORCESTER, Mass. (Nov. 19) – The Holy Cross women's hockey team defeated Nichols on Saturday afternoon by a score of 5-1 at the Hart Center. Freshman forward Madison Schneider led Holy Cross with two goals on the day, the first two goals of her collegiate career. With the victory, the Crusaders advance to 6-0-0 (5-0-0 ECAC East) on the season while Nichols falls to 1-3-1 (0-3-1 ECAC East).

Holy Cross struck early when sophomore Amanda Gallagher centered a pass from the right boards to the stick of senior forward Nicola Garat who drove a one-timer over the shoulder of the Nichols' goalie to give the Crusaders the early 1-0 lead. Eight minutes later, Schneider extended the lead to 2-0 with her first goal of the day which came unassisted. Mandy Manopla of Nichols narrowed the score to 2-1 with a power play goal in the last moments of the first period with an assist by Megan Gerein.

The Crusaders dominated the second period of action, outshooting the Bison 12-0 in shots on goal. Gallagher recorded her second assist when she fed a pass to senior forward Stacey Hochkins who proceeded to breakaway onto the Nichols' goal and beat the goalie with a slick move to her backhand side. Hochkins' score was her team-leading ninth goal of the year and extended the Holy Cross lead to 3-1 at 1:27 of the period.

Holy Cross added two more goals in the third period to make the final score 5-1 in favor of the Crusaders. The first goal of the period came at 6:45 off a rebound by freshman Rachel Miller assisted by rookies Chelsea Monahan and Francesca Panarelli. Less than a minute later, Schneider drove home her second unassisted goal of the afternoon to cap off the day.

Freshman goalie Krista Manzanares moved to 2-0-0 in the net on the season. Manzanares was the benefactor of a strong defensive effort by the Crusaders and made 10 saves while yielding just a single goal.

Bison sophomore Francesca Palazzo dips to 0-3-1 after collecting 24 saves. In just over 13 minutes of relief, first-year Tori Gianformaggio turned away five shots.

The Bison remain on the road with a trip to Trinity for a 7:00 p.m. start on Tuesday.

Box Score

Release Courtesy Holy Cross Sports Information