WORCESTER, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team fell in their season-opener to Holy Cross on Friday by a final score of 5-1. Despite the loss, sophomore Brenna Young (Wilmington, Mass.) scored the first goal of the season for the Hawks and senior goaltender Annabella Lalande (Lachute, Quebec, Canada) set a new career-high with 45 saves.
  UP NEXT

• Saint Anselm hosts Holy Cross on Saturday, October 5th for their home opener from the Sullivan Arena in Manchester, N.H. at 7:00 p.m.

Score: Saint Anselm 1, Holy Cross 5
Records: Saint Anselm (0-1); Holy Cross (2-1)
Location: Worcester, Mass. (Hart Center Park)
Date: Friday, October 4th, 2024
Attendance: 483
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Holy Cross got the scoring started at the 12:55 mark of the first period thanks to a goal by Amanda Aslan that was assisted by Alexia Moreau.
• The Crusaders continued to fire shots towards Hawks netminder Lalande, who made 18 saves in the first period including six after allowing the goal to keep the score at 1-0.
• The home team increased their attack at the start of the second period, requiring two more saves out of Lalande and two blocks from Saint Anselm defenders in the opening 90 seconds of action.
• The Crusaders were given a power play following a hooking penalty called on the Hawks early in the second period, but the Hawks were able to kill it off thanks to two more saves by Lalande.
• During the Holy Cross power play, Saint Anselm generated a quality scoring opportunity while short-handed with junior Brooklyn Schneiderhan (Helena, Mont.) ringing a shot off the post.
• Holy Cross was given another power play chance just a few minutes later, but Lalande made three more stops and the Saint Anselm penalty killing unit did its job to keep the game 1-0.
• Midway through the period, three different Hawks skaters registered shots on frame, but Crusaders goaltender Brooke Loranger was able to stop all three.
• Between the 8:00 and 11:00 marks of the second period, Lalande was required to make seven more saves as part of a 24-save period.
• Holy Cross did not take their foot off the gas and closed the period with a sequence of five shots on goal in a two-minute span. The Crusaders finally broke through and made it a 2-0 game with just over two minutes left in the period after Emily Crovo lit the lamp.
• Before period's end, Saint Anselm answered with Young firing a slapshot into the back of the net off a feed from senior Tyra Turner (Andover, Minn.), which made it a 2-1 game entering the final period.
• The Crusaders tacked on three more goals within the first eight minutes of the third period to all but seal the victory. Crovo, Abby Gravin, and Lulu Rourke all scored to increase the Holy Cross lead to 5-1.
• The Hawks were only able to muster three more shots on frame the rest of the game and ultimately fell by that same score.

  INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Holy Cross outshot Saint Anselm 93-43 and also held a 61-24 advantage in shot on goal.
• The Crusaders held a huge lead on faceoffs, 38-20.
• Young posted the lone goal of the game for the Hawks, her first of the season, to go along with four shot attempts and a team-best three blocked shots.
• Holy Cross produced nine blocks as a team, while Saint Anselm recorded 13 blocks.
• Lalande picked up the loss after making 45 saves and allowing four goals, good for a 0.918 save percentage. Junior Ava Hills (Pembroke, N.H.) produced 11 saves and allowed one goal in relief for the Hawks.
• This marked the 41st all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm falls to 24-13-4 against Holy Cross in the series that began in 2004.

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