MILFORD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart men's hockey team battled the Holy Cross Crusaders for 60 minutes Friday night at Milford Ice Pavilion, but came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 score. The Pioneers outshot Holy Cross 18-5 in the third period, but the Crusaders scored with just over six minutes left and hung on for the win.

Senior goaltender Alex Vazzano (Trumbull, Conn.) made 31 saves in the game, including 15 in the second period. Matt Ginn stopped all 36 Pioneer shots for the shutout. Holy Cross (12-15-5, 11-10-5 AHC) had three power plays in the first period, but Sacred Heart (9-17-6, 8-12-6 AHC) fought off each one. The Crusaders outshot the Pioneers 15-8 in the second period, but still the game was scoreless.

The Pioneers had a chance early in the third period to take the lead, but Drew George's (Regina, Sask.) snipe from the wing was nabbed by the glove of Ginn. Jeff Carroll (Kingston, Ont.) came close to the game's first goal with 13:50 to play as his rebound of a Nick Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y.) shot was smothered by Ginn.

Holy Cross broke the deadlock with 6:03 to play in the game. Mike Barrett started a breakout out of the Crusaders' zone, getting the puck to Nick Finn. With the Crusaders on a 2-on-1 breakaway, Finn fed the puck to T.J. Moore who shot it past Vazzano's blocker to make the score 1-0. Sacred Heart had a great opportunity to tie the game with 2:17 to play when Ryan Ferrill was called for high-sticking, putting the Pioneers on the power play. The Pioneers had four shots on the power play, and even pulled Vazzano for an extra skater for the final 1:15 of the game, but couldn't get one past Ginn as Holy Cross hung on for the 1-0 win.

The two teams wrap up their home-and-home series tomorrow night at the Hart Center at 7:05 p.m.