Junior Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) tallied three points and two goals and sophomore netminder Reilly Turner (Temiscaming, Quebec) turned aside 35 shots as Canisius fought back for a 4-3 victory against Holy Cross in its Atlantic Hockey opener on Friday afternoon. The Griffs are now 1-2-0 on the season, while the Crusaders drop to 0-4-0 in their conference opener.
“It’s great when you find a way to win,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “It wasn’t textbook in all areas but as the game progressed, we corrected earlier mistakes and found a way to get a win in a really tough game.”
Conacher led the Griffs with three points in the winning effort, while his linemates also added to the offensive attack. Senior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) chipped in a pair of assists with sophomore Ryan Schmelzer (Buffalo, N.Y.) adding a goal. Freshman Daniel LaFontaine (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.) also added a tally for Canisius – netting his first collegiate goal in the victory.
Holy Cross controlled the tempo in the opening period and took advantage with the game’s first goal. On a power-play rush, Mike Barrett fired a shot into the net from the top of slot for 1-0 advantage with 8:15 remaining in the first period.
Canisius slowly eased its way into the game and finally got on the scoreboard with 5:53 remaining in the second frame. Senior defender Mathew Backhouse (Thompson, Manitoba) sent a shot toward goal that deflected in front. Freshman Felix Chamberland (Quebec City, Quebec) got a touch right in front of net but it was LaFontaine who sent the puck in with an open look on the far side, scoring his first career goal and squaring the contest at one.
The Crusaders answered right back, connecting just 1:59 later on the power play. Michael Laffin knocked a rebound into the goal with 3:54 remaining in the second for a 2-1 Holy Cross advantage.
Canisius, however, fought back once again and responded with a power-play goal of its own just 2:11 later. Conacher netted his first of the day with the man advantage, finishing a wrist shot high on the outside of the left face-off circle for the 2-2 score. Freshman Dylan McLaughlin (Lancaster, N.Y.) and junior Josh Kielich (Orchard Park, N.Y.) both registered assists on the tally with 1:43 remaining in second frame.
In the third period, Canisius claimed its first lead of the day when Schmelzer scored for the first time in his sophomore campaign. Schmelzer nearly scored on a breakaway opportunity but after a save by the Holy Cross goalie, Cuddemi fought for the puck behind the goal and found Conacher in front. The junior then slipped the puck to Schmelzer to his left, who buried his chance with an open look for 3-2 lead with 10:41 remaining in regulation.
Holy Cross would not go away quietly and tied the contest with 6:36 remaining. Brett Mulcahy scored from the low slot off a nice feed from Matt Vidal after he fought for the puck behind the net, squaring the game at three.
Conacher, however, wasted no time in giving Canisius the lead for good with his second tally of the day and third of the season just 53 ticks later. The junior got behind the Holy Cross defense and Cuddemi sent a long pass along the boards that found the stick of his linemate just outside the Holy Cross zone. Conacher then skated in on the breakaway and beat the Crusaders netminder stick-side for the 4-3 final score.
Holy Cross finished the game with a convincing edge in shots, 38-18, but Turner was up for the challenge on the night with his 35 stops. The Crusaders were also 2-for-3 with the extra-man advantage, while Canisius went 1-for-4 on the power play.
Paul Berrafato – a native of Williamsville, N.Y. – stopped 14 shots in defeat for the Crusaders.
The teams wrap up the two-game weekend series tomorrow afternoon at HARBORCENTER with a 4:05 p.m. first puck drop.
Game Notes: Canisius has defeated Holy Cross five-straight times for the first time in the 59-game series – the Griffs had never won three-straight against the Crusaders prior to the run … Canisius’ top line of Conacher, Cuddemi and Schmelzer have now accounted for six of the team’s seven goals this season … LaFontaine became the first of 10 Griffs rookies that have played so far this season to score a goal … The assist for Chamberland was the first point of his collegiate career … The Griffs have killed just 3-of-7 power plays this season so far (42.9 percent) … Canisius is 3-1-1 in its last five conference openers.
