Pittsburgh, Pa. – The nation’s longest unbeaten streak was snapped with an overtime goal as the Canisius College hockey team lost to nationally-ranked Robert Morris, 2-1, on Friday night. The Griffs are now 12-9-6 on the season and 11-5-5 in Atlantic Hockey play after having their seven-game unbeaten run ended, while the 19th-ranked Colonials improve to 20-5-4 and 17-3-3 versus league foes.
“We played hard and had chances to win tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “Robert Morris made one more play and got the win in a hard-fought game that was back and forth from start to finish.”
Junior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) scored the lone goal for the Griffs. Senior Keegan Asmundson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) recorded 25 saves to anchor the Canisius defense.
After a scoreless first period when Canisius had nearly twice the amount of shot attempts as the Colonials (29-15), it was Robert Morris who was able to strike first in the second frame. Tyson Wilson slipped a shot past the Canisius netminder on the power play 3:55 into the period for the 1-0 lead.
The Griffs fought back with a strong third period and finally tied the game when Cuddemi netted his team-leading 17th tally of the season just 2:52 into the third period. On a rush, freshman Ryan Schmelzer (East Amherst, N.Y.) fired a shot on goal. After a scrum in front of the net, Cuddemi knocked the loose puck in to square the contest at one. Sophomore Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) also registered an assist on the game-tying score.
Canisius carried that momentum for the rest of the third period and early in the overtime. The Griffs had a great opportunity in the extra session but just missed when Conacher got behind the Robert Morris defense and beat the Colonials’ goalie but the puck hit the inside of the post with 2:30 remaining in overtime.
The near miss gave Robert Morris another life and the Colonials took advantage. Greg Gibson finished a rush with 30.6 seconds remaining to secure the 2-1 victory.
Canisius finished the game with a 30-26 advantage in shots. Robert Morris converted 1-of-5 power plays, while the Griffs did not connect in two extra-man chances.
The schools wrap up the series tomorrow night with game time slated for 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: The Griffs’ seven-game unbeaten streak was the team’s longest in the regular season since the 2000-01 campaign … Cuddemi has 10 goals in his last nine Atlantic Hockey contests … Canisius is now 1-1-6 in eight overtime games this season … The loss was the first for the Griffs in the extra session since a 4-3 defeat to Bentley in game one of the 2014 Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals … Canisius also drops to 6-28-2 all-time against nationally-ranked schools.
