Holy Cross entered the semester break with a 2-11-2 overall record and was in the Atlantic Hockey cellar at 2-7-1. The Crusaders have since played their best hockey of the season, gaining at least one point during six consecutive weekend series to move into a tie for eighth place with Army West Point.
Fifth-year head coach David Berard dubbed Friday’s 5-3 win at Bentley as one of his team’s most complete efforts of the season, and it led to finishing off a three-point weekend against the team that is now the closest challenger to first-place American International in the standings.
“We didn’t play the way we feel we need to play in order to be successful,” Berard said on Friday, looking back to the October and November games during which his team was outscored by a combined 11-6 margin. “We had a lot of transition going on after graduating a big senior class, getting young guys in, and having guys in different roles. … I think we've steadily improved since we played them in November and thought this was a really solid road game.”
Winning is hard, but Berard’s club is finding ways to do so at the right time. Since ending a four-game losing streak a month ago, the Crusaders have gone 5-2-2 and been one of only four Atlantic Hockey teams to average at least three goals per game (3.22) in that span.
