The Canisius College hockey team settled for a 1-1 draw at AIC on Sunday afternoon. The Griffs are now 5-13-2 on the season and 5-7-2 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Yellow Jackets move to 5-13-1 and 5-8-1 versus league foes.
“It was a great effort by our players to control the game but to only get one point is disappointing,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “If we bring that same effort on a consistent basis, we will get positive results in the future. It just wasn’t meant to be today.”
Sophomore Jeff Murray (Newmarket, Ontario) scored for the Griffs in the tie with freshman Simon Hofley (Ottawa, Ontario) recording 18 saves between the pipes.
The Griffs wasted no time in grabbing the lead, scoring just 40 seconds into the contest. Sophomore Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo, N.Y.) had his shot from the boards blocked but Murray was there to put the loose puck away. Junior Cory Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) also registered an assist on Murray’s second tally of the season.
Canisius, however, was unable to build on its lead and after 40 minutes of playing with a deficit, the Yellow Jackets finally struck early in the third frame. Bryant Christian stuffed in a loose puck from right in front of the net to pull AIC even 62 seconds into the third period.
Both teams had chances to claim a winner in the remaining 24 minutes, including each having a power play in the extra session. Neither team, however, was able to capitalize – including three pipes hit by the Griffs during the contest – as the teams played out the 1-1 draw.
Canisius doubled the Yellow Jackets in shots on the day, 38-19. The Griffs were 0-for-5 on the power play, while killing all three AIC extra-man chances.
Alex Murray posted 37 saves for the Yellow Jackets.
Canisius returns to action with a pair of games at RIT next weekend. The schools open the series on Friday at 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Coupled with Saturday’s loss, Canisius lost a weekend series with AIC for the first time since the 2007-08 season, ending a run of nine series victories and one draw … The Griffs remain winless when failing to score a power-play goal (0-12-2) … Canisius held its opponent to fewer than 20 shots in both games of a series for the first time since Feb. 25-26, 2005 against Bentley.
