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Hockey's rally falls short at Holy Cross

Hockey's rally falls short at Holy Cross
Worcester, Mass. – Matt Webb (Holliston, Mass.) scored the game winning goal as time expired in the third period to lift Holy Cross past Endicott, 6-5, in men’s hockey Sunday evening at the Hart Center. The Gulls knotted the game at five apiece with just six seconds to play in regulation but fell victim to Webb’s buzzer-beating tally. Endicott falls to 0-2 on the season while the Crusaders (1-0) pick up their first win of the year.

The Blue and Green trailed 3-0 after the first period before \#Matthew Zimmerman\# (South Glastonbury, Conn.) netted three consecutive goals to tie the game. The Gulls battled back from a one goal deficit two times in the third period before Webb ended the game in dramatic fashion.

Holy Cross opened the scoring with just over eight minutes remaining in the first period. Ryan McLean (Elmhurst, Ill.) recorded his only goal of the game on an assist from Matt Tyksinski (Altamont, N.Y.). Three minutes later, Eric Sherman (Hingham, Mass.) stretched the lead to two on assists from Will Shrader (Louisville, Ky.) and Brian Talbot (Braintree, Mass.). 

Sherman and Talbot teamed to find Nick Augustine (Skaneateles, N.Y.), who scored a power play goal with less than 30 seconds remaining in the opening period. 

Zimmerman propelled Endicott back into the game with three unanswered goals in the second frame. \#Garrett Moore\# (Sudbury, Mass.) found Zimmerman at 14:20 for the first goal before the junior forward added two more with a man advantage. 

The Blue and Green capitalized on a roughing call that sent the Crusaders’ Webb to the box. Junior captain \#Jeffrey Breault\# (Blackstone, Mass.) and \#Kevin Bunting\# (Plantsville, Conn.) connected to find Zimmerman at 8:29 and close the gap to one. 
Webb was sent to the box again in the closing minutes of the second period, enabling Zimmerman to tally his third and final goal of the game five seconds into the power play. The Gulls second period rally brought them all the way back from three down and evened the score. Assists on the goal were credited to \#Andrew Richardson\# (Lancaster, Mass.) and \#Rob DiNicola\# (Wolcott, Conn.).

Will Shrader put the hosts back on top with just seconds remaining in the period. The Gulls entered the second intermission trailing by a goal.

Midway through the final period, the Gulls’ DiNicola registered a power play goal on an assist from Zimmerman. 

The game was tied 4-4 entering the final minute of play, when the teams combined to score three goals in 53 seconds.

Brian LeBlanc (Winthrop, Mass.) put Holy Cross on top, 5-4, at 00:53. The Gulls managed to knot the game at five after Breault and \#Cameron MacLeod\# (Hampton Falls, N.H.) found DiNicola with six seconds remaining in regulation.

Webb’s final goal with no time remaining on the clock lifted the Crusaders to 6-5 win in their first game of the season.

Zimmerman finished with a game-high seven points on three goals and one assist. DiNicola added five points for the Gulls in the loss.

\#Mark Airoldi\# (Kennebunk, Maine) made 26 saves between the pipes for Endicott.

The Blue and Green return to action on Saturday at 7:30 pm when they play host to Eastern Connecticut State as part of Homecoming Weekend.