Junior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) netted his second hat trick of the season to help the Canisius College hockey team rescue a point in a 4-4 draw with AIC on Saturday night at HARBORCENTER. The Griffs finish the first half of the season with a 6-6-5 record and 5-4-4 mark in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Yellow Jackets move to 2-10-3 and 2-5-3 against league foes.
“We had to work hard after a poor first period put us in a big deficit,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We found a way, however, and we did it with our top line. Everybody became engaged physically and that’s not only what it takes to get back into games but to win.”
The first player in the country with two hat tricks this season, Cuddemi’s three goals helped the Griffs earn a point for the first time in program history when trailing by four or more goals in a game. Freshman Jeff Murray (Newmarket, Ontario) also added his first collegiate goal as Canisius overcame a disastrous and sloppy defensive start to the game.
The Yellow Jackets took advantage of a number of Canisius defensive miscues to race to a 4-0 lead 13:42into the contest. On a power play, Jason Popek lost the defense in the middle of the ice and finished his chance for the early 1-0 lead just 4:56 into the contest. David Norris then extended the lead to two at the8:33 mark of the period. Austin Orszulak blocked a Canisius pass in the neutral zone and Norris picked up the puck and buried his chance for the 2-0 lead.
AIC then added two goals in a 2:20 span to double its lead to four. Bryant Christian took advantage of a Canisius defender pinching up in the offensive zone and finished a 2-on-1 for the 3-0 lead 11:22 into the game. Matt Cassidy then added a short-handed goal on another 2-on-1 break after a poor pass on the blue line during a Canisius power play, giving the Yellow Jackets a 4-0 advantage just 13:42 into the contest.
The Griffs, however, fought back and it started on the ensuing power play when Murray netted his first collegiate goal. Sophomore defender Geoff Fortman (Crystal Lake, Ill.) fired a shot from the blue line and the rookie redirected the puck into the net to cut the AIC lead to three, 4-1. Sophomore Josh Kielich (Orchard Park, N.Y.) added an assist on Murray’s first goal with 5:51 remaining in the opening period.
Cuddemi then made his move to pull Canisius even in the game, netting his first goal with 2:20 remaining in the second frame. After sophomore Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) had his shot saved, junior defender Chris Rumble (Seattle, Wash.) gathered the loose puck in the corner and found Cuddemi open in the slot. The junior faked his shot and then beat the goalie glove side for the 4-2 score after 40 minutes of play.
It didn’t take long for Cuddemi to add to his resume on the night in the third period, scoring just 36 seconds into the stanza. Off an offensive zone face-off victory, Cuddemi’s turn-around shot from near the blue line found its way into the net as Canisius was back within one, 4-3. Freshman Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo, N.Y.) recorded the assist on Cuddemi’s second goal of the night.
The junior then finally knotted the game for the Griffs, completing the natural hat trick with 10:23remaining in regulation. Off another face-off victory by Schmelzer, Rumbled fired a shot on net that was saved. Cuddemi, however, was there to knock the rebound into the net to tie contest at four.
After a scoreless final 10 minutes of regulation, both teams had chances in the overtime to win the game. AIC registered the only shots on goal during the extra session but twice, Canisius just missed wide on redirection shots as the game ended in a 4-4 draw.
Canisius finished the game with a 43-27 advantage in shots, including a 17-8 edge in the second period and 16-4 tally in the third. Both teams converted once on the power play in four chances for the Griffs and three for the Yellow Jackets.
After freshman Reilly Turner (Temiscaming, Quebec) earned the start in net, senior Keegan Asmundson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) was perfect in over 51 minutes of relief, stopping all 17 shots he faced.
Hunter Leisner recorded 39 saves for AIC.
Canisius is now off for four weeks, returning to action on Jan. 2 at Maine.
Game Notes: Cuddemi registered his first hat trick of the season on Oct. 17 after Canisius rallied from a 4-1 deficit to earn a 6-4 victory against Army … Cuddemi is the third Griff in the program’s Division I history to register two hat tricks in the same season, joining Chris Duggan (1998-99) and Cory Conacher (2010-11) … In their last three games, the Griffs have outshot their opponent by a combined 114-62 (average of 38.0 to 20.7) … Canisius is now 16-1-3 in its last 20 games against AIC.
