The Canisius College hockey team earned a point in the standings thanks to a late goal that forced a 1-1 tie with Air Force. The Griffs are now 8-15-5 on the season and 8-9-5 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Falcons extend their unbeaten streak to eight games and move to 13-9-4 on the season and 11-5-4 versus league foes.
“We are happy that we were able to fight back and get the tie tonight even though we wanted the win,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We played with passion and purpose but we just weren’t able to find the net enough for the win. Our power play came up with a huge goal for us late, however, to give us a point in the standings.”
Senior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) netted his team-leading 17th goal of the season in the draw.
Freshman Simon Hofley (Ottawa, Ontario) stopped 24 shots between the pipes.
For the second-straight night, the Griffs found themselves behind in the contest thanks to a first-period tally from the Falcons. Matt Serratore redirected a high shot from the point into the netting for the 1-0 advantage with 8:32 remaining in the period.
The Griffs, however, would continue to fight and nearly pulled even early in the second period. On a power play, Cuddemi sent a shot on goal that deflected off the goalie and hit the inside of the pipe before popping back out.
Cuddemi, though, would finally break through on the power play in the closing minutes of the game. Awarded the extra-man chance after Air Force took a too many men on the ice penalty, sophomore Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo, N.Y.) attempted a wrap-around shot only to see the puck sit on the goal line. Cuddemi poked the loose puck past the Air Force netminder for the game-tying tally with just 3:04 remaining in regulation. Freshman Dylan McLaughlin (Lancaster, N.Y.) also registered an assist on Cuddemi’s 17th goal of the season.
The schools would then skate out the final eight minutes, including five in the overtime, as each team earned a point with the 1-1 draw.
Canisius finished the contest with a slight advantage in shots, 26-25. The Griffs converted 1-of-5 power-play chances, while killing both of the Falcons extra-man opportunities.
Shane Starrett earned the draw in net with 25 stops.
Canisius now takes a two-week break before returning to the ice on Feb. 12 with a road game at Bentley.
Game Notes: Cuddemi moved into sole possession of second place in the program’s Division I record book with 58 career goals, breaking a tie with Kyle Gibbons … Cuddemi is just four tallies shy of the program’s all-time record of 62, held by Cory Conacher … Canisius is 0-4-1 this season when outshooting its opponent … Hofley has started each of the Griffs last nine contests, posting a 2.04 goals against average and .938 save percentage … Canisius has gone to overtime in four of its last five games.
