The Canisius College hockey team earned a 4-3 victory over long-time rival, Mercyhurst, on Friday night at HARBORCENTER, scoring a late winner after relinquishing a three-goal lead. The win moves the Griffs to 3-7-0 on the season and 3-2-0 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Lakers drop to 7-6-0 and 5-2-0 versus league foes.
The win also marked the 500th victory for the Griffs in the program’s varsity history, which dates back to 1980.
“It was a special win tonight and a big congratulations goes out to every current and former Griff with our program’s 500th victory,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “You can’t get there in one night and it is a special accomplishment. Coach Cavanaugh was on the bench for most of these victories and was a big reason we reached this number today. Tonight, however, our team worked really hard and got us that one more win to get us to that magical number.”
Senior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario), sophomores Mike Sabatini (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) and Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo, N.Y.) and freshman Felix Chamberland (Quebec City, Quebec) all found the back of the net for the Griffs in the winning effort.
Junior Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) paced the Canisius attack with a season-best three assists on the night.
Freshman Simon Hofley (Ottawa, Ontario) earned his first collegiate victory between the pipes, stopping 39 Mercyhurst shots.
After a scoreless first period, it was Canisius who seemingly took control of the contest with three second-period tallies. Schmelzer opened the scoring 3:45 into the contest with his third tally of the season. Conacher fed the puck to his linemate in the low slot and Schmelzer quickly ripped a shot past the Mercyhurst netminder for the 1-0 advantage. Cuddemi also added an assist on the game’s first goal.
Chamberland then doubled the Canisius lead with his first collegiate tally at the 6:43 mark of the second. The rookie buried a one-timer from the top of the right face-off circle with the Griffs on the power play for the 2-0 advantage. Conacher and sophomore Jack Stander (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) both registered assists on the extra-man tally.
Cuddemi completed the Canisius surge with his team-leading sixth goal of the season and the Griffs’ first short-handed tally of the year at the 9:09 mark of the period. After clearing the puck, Cuddemi charged down the ice and when the puck slipped off the stick of the Mercyhurst goalie, Cuddemi gathered the loose puck from behind the net and beat the netminder to the crease for the open goal.
The Lakers, however, fought back and eventually tied the game. Mercyhurst netted its first goal of the night with 48 ticks left in the second off a scrum in front when Kane Elliot found the back of the net. The scrum also led to each team collecting 60 penalty minutes, forcing the Griffs top line to be held out of action for 12 minutes until just 8:48 remained in regulation.
Mercyhurst took advantage with 13:37 left in the game when Matthew Whittaker pulled the team within one, 3-2. Derek Barach then brought the Lakers even, 3-3, when his shot hit the bar and went in with just 6:27 remaining.
Canisius, however, answered right back with Sabatini’s second goal of his sophomore campaign. Just 43 seconds after losing the lead, Conacher intercepted a pass behind the Mercyhurst net and found Sabatini in front. The sophomore quickly finished his chance from close range, slipping the puck past the goalie for the 4-3 Canisius lead.
Hofley then stood tally in the final five-plus minutes, preventing the Mercyhurst equalizing tally and earning his first collegiate victory.
The Lakers finished the game with a 42-26 advantage in shots on the night. Canisius was 1-for-4 on the power play, while killing all four Mercyhurst extra-man chances.
Brandon Wildung stopped 17 shots in the first two periods for the Lakers, while Adam Carlson recorded five saves in the third to take the defeat.
The schools wrap up the season series tomorrow night at HARBORCENTER with the first face-off scheduled for 7:35 p.m.
Game Notes: Mercyhurst is now 1-8-1 against Canisius since the 2013 Atlantic Hockey Championship (.150 winning percentage), while going 40-13-9 against the rest of the league (.718 winning percentage) … The Griffs top line of Conacher, Cuddemi and Schmelzer have now accounted for 81.8 percent of Canisius’ goals this season, scoring or assisting on 18 of the team’s 22 tallies … Cuddemi moved closer to a pair of milestones and now has 94 career points and 47 career goals … Chamberland is the fifth Canisius rookie to score a goal this season … Canisius owns an all-time record of 500-527-109.
