In an all too familiar story in the series between the two schools, Army blanked the Canisius College hockey team on Saturday night, 3-0, denying the Griffs a chance to complete the sweep. Canisius drops to 2-2-0 on the season and 1-1-0 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Black Knights improve to 2-2-0 overall and against league foes.
It marks the third-straight time the two school have met that the Griffs had no issue scoring in the opener (averaging 6.33 goals per game), only to be shut out in the finale when attempting to complete the series sweep.
“I liked our effort tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We had really good push by our top players but their goalie played well. We did a lot of things well but the puck just didn’t bounce our way tonight.”
Senior Keegan Asmundson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) stopped 27 shots for Canisius in defeat.
Army wasted no time in grabbing the lead in the contest, scoring just 32 seconds into the game. C.J. Reuschlein hammered in a loose puck off a rebound for what would prove to be the game-winning goal.
The Griffs had a couple of near misses during the next 40 minutes but couldn’t capitalize on their chances to tie the game. Senior Doug Beck (Plymouth, Mich.) hit the crossbar in the first period and then in the second, Army recovered from a 2-on-0 Canisius break to swat the puck away. The loose puck would squirt to sophomore Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) but he couldn’t finish his chance.
In the third period, Army took advantage of a couple of rebound opportunities to stretch its lead to a comfortable margin. Brendan McGuire knocked in his own rebound 82 seconds into the frame before Maurice Alvarez scored, taking advantage of a five-minute power play with 13:54 remaining.
Army finished the game with a 30-28 advantage in shots. The Black Knights were 1-for-3 on the power play, while Canisius did not score in three chances.
Parker Gahagen stopped all 28 shots he faced to earn the shutout victory.
Canisius returns to play next weekend with a pair of games at AIC. The series begins on Friday at 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Canisius defeated Army, 6-4, on Friday before falling in Saturday’s finale … Seniors Stephen Farrell and Tyler Wiseman were both held without a point for the first time this season … Sophomore Josh Kielich made his season debut, while freshman defender Jack Stander made his collegiate debut … Canisius has allowed at least one power-play goal in all four games this season.
