WORCESTER, Mass. -- Sophomore Danny Lopez of Barrington Hills, Illinois, scored twice as the Holy Cross Crusaders, an NCAA Div. 1 team, utilized a plethora of power-plays to defeat visiting McGill 5-2 in a men's hockey exhibition game at the Hart Center on Wednesday afternoon.

As is often the case when playing south of the border, McGill spent a large portion of the game in the penalty box. The Redmen were assessed nine of the 12 infractions called and spent 37 minutes in the sin bin compared to just six for the Crusaders. Holy Cross took advantage, striking for three power-play goals in six chances, while the Redmen were 0-for-2.

The Crusaders, who had a 27-23 advantage in shots, led 2-0 after the opening period on goals by senior Castan Sommer of Shrewsbury, Mass., and sophomore Scott Pooley of Granger, Indiana.

Early in the middle stanza, McGill sophomore Simon Tardif-Richard of Shawinigan, Que., tallied his third of the season, narrowing the gap to 2-1 at the 3:58 mark, converting passes from defencemen Gianluca Curcuruto and Etienne Boutet.

Then the parade to the penalty-box began.

Serving a boarding major and game ejection to Liam Heelis at 8:33, the Redmen were assessed four additional penalties over the next two minutes, while Holy Cross was whistled for a diving infraction. The Crusaders profited from a prolonged 5-on-3 power-play scenario to tally twice in 28 seconds -- from Lopez at 10:36 and Ryan Ferrill of Havertown, Penn., at 11:04 -- putting the game out of reach at 5-1. That last marker chased starter Jacob Gervais-Chouinard from the McGill net. He ended up with 12 saves on 17 shots and took the loss, dropping his record to 16-5-0 overall.

One of the few bright spots for McGill in this cross-border confrontation was the play of backup netminder Joe Fleschler, a native of Summit, N.J. Making just his fourth appearance of the season-- and the first in his native homeland -- the 6-foot-5, 212-pound freshman turned aside all 10 shots faced the rest of the way.

Crusader 'keeper Paul Berrafato recorded 10 saves on 11 shots faced over the first two periods and collected the win, while Tommy Nixon played the final period and made 11 saves on 12 shots.

McGill dominated the third period shot total with a 12-5 advantage but managed only one goal, when Daniel Milne of Unionville, Ont., potted his 11th of the campaign at 10:44 to close out the scoring. He deflected a point-shot from rearguard Redgie Bois, while Mathieu Pompei also drew a helper on the play.

The Redmen, who dropped to 17-10 overall, including a 15-2-1 OUA record, will resume regular-season play at Laurentian (6-8-2) and Nipissing (8-6-3), Jan. 8-9, respectively. The Crusaders, who lead the 11-team Atlantic Hockey Conference with a 9-3-1 record, improved to 10-6-1 overall and will return to action on Jan. 2 against visiting Princeton.

REDMEN RAP: Redmen rearguard Samuel Labrecque, who leads the CIS scoring race, left the game late in the second period after blocking a shot and did not return... This was the first-ever meeting between McGill and Holy Cross... The Redmen dropped to 113-124-10 in 247 games all-time against NCAA opponents, including an 0-3 mark this season... The Crusaders 25-man roster includes six Canadians... Holy Cross dressed 24 players, while 21 suited up for the Redmen.... McGill grad Guy Boucher, who is serving as head coach for Canada at the Spengler Cup tournament in Davos, Switzerland, can guide his troops to a gold medal with a victory over HC Lugano, a Swiss team, on Thursday morning (6 am, Eastern), Dec. 31 on TSN. Boucher, who previously coached the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, played for the Redmen from 1991 to 1995, serving as team captain in his senior year. Two other former Redmen have played in the Spengler Cup: Tim Iannone (won gold in 1987) and Martin Raymond (won bronze in 1991).

SEE COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 2 at Holy Cross 5
(Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - EXHIBITION)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 0-1-1 -- 2
Holy Cross 2-3-0 --- 5

1st Period-
1, Holy Cross, Castan Sommer 4 (Vidale), 9:53.
2, Holy Cross, Scott Pooley 8 (Trapp), 16:30 (PP).

Penalties-Heelis Mcg (roughing), 16:07.

2nd Period-
3, McGill, Simon Tardif-Richard 3 (Curcuruto, Boutet), 3:58.
4, Holy Cross, Danny Lopez 4 (Barrett, Bolton), 5:18.
5, Holy Cross, Danny Lopez 5 (Moore), 10:36 (PP).
6, Holy Cross, Ryan Ferrill 5 (Vidale, Pooley), 11:04 (PP).

Penalties-Mulcahy HC (roughing), 1:55; Heelis Mcg (major-boarding, game ejection), 8:33; Lambert-Lemay Mcg (cross checking), 9:39; Milne Mcg (elbowing), 9:39; Sommer HC (diving), 9:39; Boutet Mcg (cross checking, 10-minute misconduct), 10:07; Tremblay Mcg (boarding), 19:28.

3rd Period-
7, McGill, Daniel Milne 2 (Pompei, Bois), 10:44.

Penalties-Smith HC (roughing), 8:34; Pompei Mcg (cross checking), 19:04.

Shots on Goal-
McGill 6-5-12 -- 23.
Holy Cross 10-12-5 -- 27.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 0 / 2;
Holy Cross 3 / 6.

Penalties (No./Mins.)-
McGill 9 / 37;
Holy Cross 3 / 6.

Goalies-
McGill,
Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (Start, L, 16-5-0, 17 shots-12 saves; 31:27);
Joe Fleschler (ND, 10 shots-10 saves; 28:36).

Holy Cross,
Paul Berrafato (Start, W, 10-4-1, 11 shots-10 saves; 40:00);
Tommy Nixon (ND, 12 shots-11 saves; 20:00).

Attendance: 352
Start: 4:05 PM
End: 6:10 PM
Length: 2:05

Referees-Kenneth Gates, David Berube.
Linesmen-Dan Panciocco, Lex Deegan.

THREE STARS
1. HOLY CROSS - 27 Danny Lopez
2. HOLY CROSS - 12 Scott Pooley
3. MCGILL - 1 Joe Fleschler


SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
 
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