WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross' Liam Connors and Lucas Thorne scored goals to lead the Crusaders to a 2-1 victory over Bentley University in the final game of the regular season on Saturday night at the Hart Center.

The result means Bentley will play at Niagara in a first round, best-of-three series starting next Friday night.

Holy Cross took a 1-0 lead with 12:56 remaining in the first period when Connors scored on a delayed penalty. The Crusaders had an extra player on the ice and were able to take advantage when defenseman Matt Slick fed a diagonal pass from the top of the left face-off circle to Connors down by the net.

The Falcons though tied the score with 7:06 remaining in the opening period when freshman Cooper Connell (West Vancouver, B.C.) netted his 3^rd goal of the season, when Bentley was on a 5-on-3 power play. Sophomore defenseman Drew Bavaro (Bradenton, Fla.) started with the puck above the right face-off circle and fed a pass through the slot that Matt Gosiewski (Wilton, Conn.) got a touch on over to Connell on the far side. Connell then one-timed his shot past Holy Cross netminder Erik Gordon for the goal.

Neither team was able to score again until very late in the 2^nd period when Thorne put Holy Cross ahead with just 21 seconds left before intermission. The goal came about after Grayson Constable put a shot on net from the left wing and Thorne was there in front of the net to score after a couple of cracks at the rebound.

Bentley outshot Holy Cross in the 3^rd period 6-2 and had a 5-on-3 power play opportunity but they weren't able to convert for the tying goal. Though Gordon came up with a huge pad save during the 5-on-3 power play to deny a shot by Dylan Pitera (Culver, Indiana) on the doorstep to keep the Crusaders in front.

Bentley's Evan DeBrouwer (Blenheim, Ontario) finished the night with 24 saves.

The Falcons played at Niagara earlier this season on Feb. 4 and 5 and both games went the Purple Eagles way in one goal contests.