USAF Academy, Colo. – The Canisius College hockey team clinched the second seed for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament with a 4-1 victory at Air Force on Friday night. The win moves the Griffs to 16-10-7 on the season and 15-6-6 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Falcons drop to 13-19-4 and 12-12-3 against league foes.
“Keegan Asmundson made three huge saves for us in the first period and allowed us get our legs underneath us,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We played extremely well from the start of the second on in a hard building against a tough team. Our seniors were our best players tonight and made the difference in the game.”
Senior Cody Freeman (Toronto, Ontario) led the Griffs with two tallies on the night, while classmates Mitch McCrank (Haileybury, Ontario) and Tyler Wiseman (Burlington, Ontario) also added goals.
Senior Keegan Asmundson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) recorded 21 saves to earn the victory between the pipes.
The Griffs got on the scoreboard first but only after Asmundson rescued the team on the penalty kill. The senior netminder made two outstanding saves with Canisius a man down, first sliding to anticipate a centering pass from the corner and saving Scott Holm’s attempt before robbing Chad Demers with a glove save on a back-door attempt.
Wiseman then carried the momentum of the penalty kill with the game’s opening goal just 11 seconds after the power play expired. The senior gathered a loose puck in his zone, skated down the ice, faked out an Air Force defender on a 2-on-2 to get past him and finished a backhand shot, roofing it over the goalie’s blocker for his seventh tally of the season. Senior Doug Jessey (Langdon, Alberta) registered an assist on the goal with 6:26 remaining in the first period.
The Canisius defense continued to its strong play until midway through the second frame, when the offense gave the back line a break. The Griffs outshot Air Force, 13-1, in the final eight minutes of the second and took advantage with Freeman’s eighth goal of the season. After a long offensive possession, senior Logan Roe (Fort Myers, Fla.) quickly sent the puck back into the zone while the Falcons attempted to make a change. McCrank deflected the puck to Wiseman in the neutral zone and from the corner, the senior found Freeman streaking down the middle. Freeman then knocked the puck into the net for the 2-0 lead with 6:55 remaining in the period.
Air Force cut the Canisius lead in half early in the third period when Chad Demers knocked a rebound in 45 seconds into the stanza. However, the Griffs quickly answered back to reclaim its two-goal lead. On the power play, junior Chris Rumble (Seattle, Wash.) fired a shot from the point and Freeman redirected it into the net for the 3-1 lead. Freeman tallied his ninth goal of the season with 16:28 remaining in the game for the two-goal advantage.
Canisius then sealed the victory when McCrank scored with the empty net, netting his 10th goal of the season with 3:07 left in the game.
The Griffs finished the game with a 30-22 advantage in shots, including a 22-5 edge in the final 28 minutes of the game. Canisius also converted 1-of-3 power plays on the night, while killing both of the Falcons extra-man chances.
Chris Truehl took the loss for the Falcons in goal, posting 26 saves.
The schools are now set to wrap up the regular season tomorrow night with the first puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET.
Game Notes: The second-place finish matches the best regular-season finish for the Griffs in the program’s Division I history – Canisius also finished second during the 2004-05 season … Canisius has allowed only 21 goals in the last 14 games (1.50 per game) … Wiseman extended his career-best point streak to five games … The senior now has 10 points (4g, 6a) in 12 games since returning from injury after recording five points in his 13 games before missing time with the injury.
