2022–23 Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey season

Due in part to having to find a new starting goaltender, Holy Cross got off to a poor start. The Crusaders won just 2 out of their first 15 games. By the end of November, the team was one of the worst clubs in college hockey both on offense and defense. The Crusaders had scored more than 2 goals in a game on just 2 occasions, which coincidentally were their only wins to that point. Jason Grand got a third turn in goal as the team's starter and that seemed to work like a charm. Beginning with their match against New Hampshire, the Crusaders suddenly found life and won three games in a row. Their inspired play continued and the club lost just once over an 8-game stretch. On offense, Jack Ricketts began taking over as the team's primary scorer and, seemingly overnight, Holy Cross was managing to score goals as well.

Though there were some hiccups, Holy Cross posted a winning record over the second half of the season and crept up to 7th in the conference standings. The Crusaders faced American International in the quarterfinals, who had won every league championship over the previous 4 seasons. After dropping the opening game, Holy Cross was facing the end of their season when the Yellow Jackets score the first two goals of the rematch. Just before the end of the second, Liam McLinskey scored to cut the lead in half and began a run of 4 consecutive goals from the Crusaders. McLinskey notched the last of those markers which turned out to be the game-winner after AIC potted a third goal after pulling their goalie.[1] McLinskey again opened CHC's scoring in the deciding game before AIC and the Crusader power play began to trade goals. A scoreless third period ended with the score tied 3–3 but Holy Cross was controlling the pace of the game. The Crusaders continued to press in overtime and attacked the AIC cage. Eventually McLinskey managed to stop a clearing attempt and then scored off of a rebound to quiet a nearly empty arena.[2]

Holy Cross had made the conference semifinal for the first time since 2006 and their reward was facing the best team in the conference, RIT. In front of a much more boisterous and hostile crowd, Jason Grande had probably the best game of his career and stopped all 36 shots from the Tigers in regulation. The Crusaders, on the other hand, were limited to just 7 shots in the first two periods but began to warm up in the third. They more than doubled their shot total in the final 20 minutes but were unable to score themselves, sending the Crusaders into overtime once more. The play was a little more even in the extra session and, 8 minutes into the frame, Liam McLinskey got behind the defense and broke in alone on the RIT cage. After a deke, he slid the puck into the Tiger net for his sixth goal of the postseason and third consecutive game-winning goal.[3]

Ordinarily, that goal would have sent Holy Cross to the title game, however, Atlantic Hockey had changed their postseason format that year and converted the semifinal round into a best-of-three series.[4] Despite the reprieve for RIT, McLinskey gave the Crusaders a lead in the second game after scoring twice during a 5-on-3 power play. RIT was able to push Holy Cross into overtime yet again but this time the Crusaders came out on the losing end. While the series was tied, Holy Cross didn't panic and scored twice in the first period of the deciding game. RIT cut into the lead in the second but the Crusaders reestablished their 2-goal advantage before the start of the third. The defense held firm over the last 20 minutes, stifling the Tigers and preventing them from getting a second goal. When RIT pulled their goaltender, all that served to do was give the Crusaders an empty net to shoot at and they scored twice more, the last being McLinskey's 9th of the postseason, to cap a huge upset over the heavily favored Tigers.[5]

With Holy Cross 1 win away from their first league championship in 17 years, The Crusaders ran into the only goalie in the conference as hot as Jason Grande. No matter how hard they tried, the Crusaders could not get a puck past Jacob Barczewski. Even after pulling Grand for an extra attacker, CHC was unable to score and lost the championship game 0–3.

As of August 4, 2022.[6]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Louden Hogg	Freshman	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	158 lb (72 kg)	2002-10-18	Cheyenne, Wyoming	Fargo (USHL)	—
2		Jack Robilotti	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2001-07-18	New York, New York	Fargo (USHL)	—
4		Jake Higgins	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2001-06-09	Hingham, Massachusetts	Deerfield (USHS–MA)	—
6		Jonathan Balah	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2001-08-15	Barrie, Ontario	Wellington (OJHL)	—
7		Nick Hale (C)	Junior	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1999-05-07	Raleigh, North Carolina	Brooks (AJHL)	—
8		Charlie Spence	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-03-18	Medfield, Massachusetts	Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)	—
10		Liam McLinskey	Sophomore	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-02-20	Pearl River, New York	Quinnipiac (ECAC)	—
12		Matt Guerra	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	1999-05-21	Orlando, Florida	Robert Morris (AHA)	—
13		Grayson Constable (C)	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1998-05-05	Lethbridge, Alberta	Bonnyville (AJHL)	—
14		Matt Shatsky	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-04-29	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Sherwood Park (AJHL)	—
15		Jack Ricketts (A)	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-09-08	Oakville, Ontario	Oakville (OJHL)	—
17		Matt DeBoer	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-09-02	Las Vegas, Nevada	Green Bay (USHL)	—
18		Bobby Young	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-11-08	Kitchener, Ontario	Bonnyville (AJHL)	—
19		Alex Peterson (A)	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	1998-03-27	Lansdale, Pennsylvania	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
20		Devin Phillips	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-07-12	Raleigh, North Carolina	Brooks (AJHL)	—
21		Alec Cicero	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-03-09	Williamsville, New York	Buffalo (OJHL)	—
22		Lucas Thorne	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-03-05	Dunnville, Ontario	Bonnyville (AJHL)	—
23		Jackson MacNab	Senior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-07-03	Indianapolis, Indiana	Notre Dame (Big Ten)	—
24		John Gelatt	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-04-29	Middletown, New Jersey	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
26		Liam Connors	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-02-01	Westborough, Massachusetts	Connecticut (NCDC)	—
27		Mack Oliphant	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2002-12-28	Northbrook, Illinois	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
28		Jack Seymour	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2001-04-06	Chelsea, Quebec	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
29		Conner Jean	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1997-02-15	Oakland, Michigan	Carleton (OUA)	—
30		Jason Grande	Junior (RS)	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1999-02-07	West Chester, Pennsylvania	Bentley (AHA)	—
33		Thomas Gale	Sophomore	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-06-10	Kirkland, Quebec	P. A. L. (NCDC)	—
34		Joe Solimine	Freshman	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2002-03-03	Middleton, Massachusetts	Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)	—
39		Tyler Ghirardosi	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-10-01	Montrose, British Columbia	Quinnipiac (ECAC)	—

[8]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.[9]