WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The American International College men's ice hockey squad earned a 4-4 overtime draw against Holy Cross on Friday night at the Olympia Ice Center. The Yellow Jackets move to 9-14-6 overall and 6-11-6 in the Atlantic Hockey Association, while the Crusaders are now 15-12-3 overall and 11-9-3 in the conference.

AIC skate out strong in the first period earning a 3-0 lead just six minutes into the period, while earning a 4-0 lead heading into the second period. Senior forward Steve Mele (Bronx, N.Y.) found the back of the net to put the Yellow Jackets on the board at 2:43. Just 59 seconds later senior ring wing Adam Pleskach (Beausejour, MB) fired a wrist shot to the upper left corner to extend AIC's lead to 2-0. Pleskach scored his second power play goal at 6:04, off a pass from senior forward Richard Leitner (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and junior forward Blake Peake (Lethbridge, AB). Sophomore forward Brandon Fagerheim scored the Yellow Jackets third consecutive goal with three seconds left in the first period.

With sophomore defenseman Steven Hoshaw (Vista, Calif.) and freshman defenseman Brandon Lubin (Commerce Township MI) both in the penalty box, the Crusaders had a two-man –advantage power play. Freshman Karl Beckman (Okemos, Mich.) fired a shot past senior goaltender Ben Meisner (Halifax, N.S.) to inch Holy Cross within two goals, 3-1.

Freshman Sean Gustin (Stoneham, Mass.) made it a 4-2 contest for the Crusaders at 5:47 in the third period. With 9:26 left in regulation freshman Tim Driscoll (Hingham, Mass.) buried a shot from in front of the net to make the score 4-3.

At 17:37 in the third period senior Rob Linsmayer (Winnetka, Ill.) knotted the contest at 4-4 for Holy Cross off a pass from junior Shayne Stockton (Rochester, N.Y.) to send the contest into overtime.

Meisner tallied 33 saves in net for the Yellow Jackets in the tie. Junior goalie Derek Kump (Falmouth, Maine) made seven saves and allowed three goals in 6:23 for the Crusaders, while sophomore goalie Matt Ginn (Lindsay, Ontario) made 12 saves in 58:37.

The Yellow Jackets will travel to Worcester, Mass. tomorrow to finish the home-and-home series against Holy Cross at the Hart Center at 5:05 p.m.