The Canisius College hockey team fought the nation’s 10th-ranked team hard on Friday night before a late tally lifted Bowling Green to a 4-2 victory in front of 1,624 fans at HARBORCENTER. The loss drops the Griffs to 0-2-0 on the season, while the Falcons improve to 3-1-0.
“Even though the loss to a very good hockey team at home hurts right now, I thought we played with an extremely high pace tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “The process we played with was really good and I’m proud of the effort our team showed. We now look forward to turning our attention toward league play and seeing how much we have learned from our early non-conference games.”
Senior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) and junior Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) each tallied goals for the Griffs.
Sophomore Reilly Turner (Temiscaming, Quebec) made 30 stops in net.
After a scoreless opening frame, the Griffs struck first in the contest thanks to Cuddemi’s second goal in as many games to start the season. After a long pass from senior Mathew Backhouse (Thompson, Manitoba), sophomore Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo, N.Y.) skated the puck into the zone and found Cuddemi streaking down the middle. The senior then buried his chance from the slot, high and glove side, for the 1-0 lead just 52 seconds into the period.
Bowling Green tied the game at one when Kevin Dufour found the netting 4:28 into the second period. Dufour gained possession in the corner, skated to the net and finished his chance for his third goal of the campaign. The Falcons then gained the lead just over five minutes later when Tyler Spezia scored on a breakaway for the 2-1 advantage.
Canisius fought back and tied the game when Conacher tallied his first goal of his junior campaign. After a Bowling Green turnover in the neutral zone, Cuddemi fed the puck to his linemate and Conacher ripped a shot into the netting from the top of the left face-off circle, squaring the game at two.
The nationally-ranked Falcons, however, answered and Mark Cooper gave the team the lead for good with just 7:13 left in regulation. Ben Murphy’s shot from close distance rang off the pipe and Copper was there to knock the puck in for the go-ahead tally.
John Schilling then sealed the victory for Bowling Green, netting an empty-net goal with 2.2 ticks left for the 4-2 victory.
The Falcons finished the game with a 34-22 advantage in shots on the night, while neither team was able to score on the power play. The Griffs went 0-for-2 with the extra-man advantage and killed Bowling Green’s only chance of the contest.
Canisius now turns its attention toward conference play, opening Atlantic Hockey action against Holy Cross next weekend. The schools open the two-game set on Friday at 4:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Cuddemi has recorded a point on all three Canisius goals this season … The 10th-ranked Falcons are the highest-ranked team the Griffs have hosted since No. 1 New Hampshire played Canisius in 2003 at HSBC Arena … The Griffs are now 6-29-3 all-time against ranked teams … Canisius lost back-to-back games at HARBORCENTER for the first time (in 22 all-time games in the rink) … Freshman Alex Jaeckle made his collegiate debut on Friday, making him the 10th Griff to play in his first collegiate game this year.
