Springfield, Mass. – The Canisius College hockey team lost to AIC on Saturday night, 3-1. The loss drops the Griffs to 5-13-1 on the season and 5-7-1 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Yellow Jackets improved to 5-13-0 and 5-8-0 in league play.
“We need to be more consistent in all areas if we expect to win,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “Our power play had a great opportunity to give us the lead or even add to it in the second but didn’t get the job done.”
Senior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) scored the lone goal for the Griffs.
Sophomore Reilly Turner (Temiscaming, Quebec) recorded 16 saves in the losing effort between the pipes.
After a scoreless first period, it was the Griffs who struck first in the second thanks to a tally from Cuddemi. Off a faceoff victory by sophomore Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo, N.Y.), junior Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) sent a turnaround shot toward net that Cuddemi redirected past the goal line. The senior captain’s 10th goal gave Canisius the lead just 1:15 into the frame.
AIC, however, responded with two goals late in the second stanza to take the lead into the intermission. Marc Dubeau found the netting off a loose puck in front to square the game with 3:35 left before Jackson Dudley finished a rush with just 59.8 ticks left for the 2-1 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets then stretched their advantage to two early in the third frame, taking advantage of a fortunate bounce. A dump-in attempt into the zone around the boards hit a stanchion and bounced in front of goal. With the Canisius netminder looking the other direction, Bryant Christian knocked in the loose puck for a 3-1 lead with 15:28 remaining.
Canisius finished the game with a 34-19 advantage in shots. Neither team scored on the power play with the Griffs going 0-for-5 with the extra man and killing the only AIC opportunity of the night.
The schools wrap up the season series tomorrow afternoon with game time slated for 3:05 p.m.
Game Notes: The win was just for AIC in the last 21 meetings against the Griffs with Canisius dropping to 16-2-3 versus the Yellow Jackets since the start of the 2008-09 season … The +14 shot margin is the most for the Griffs this season … Canisius is now 0-3-0 this season when recording more shots than its opponent … The Griffs remain winless when failing to score on the power play, moving to 0-12-1 on the season … Canisius is now 1-11-0 in its last 12 games in the first weekend after the holiday break.
