The Canisius College hockey team rode a strong defense to a 3-1 victory over AIC at HARBORCENTER on Friday night. With the win, the Griffs improve to 6-6-4 on the season and 5-4-3 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Yellow Jackets drop to 2-10-2 and 2-5-2 versus league foes.
“We played hard in all three zones and all 200 feet tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We moved the puck very well as a team and when you do those things, you often get good results like today.”
Senior Braeden Rigney (Singhampton, Ontario), junior Chris Rumble (Seattle, Wash.) and freshman Nolan Sheeran (East Amherst, N.Y.) all scored for the Griffs in the winning effort.
Freshman Reilly Turner (Temiscaming, Quebec) anchored the strong defensive effort with 15 saves to earn the win between the pipes.
Canisius took control of the contest with two goals in the final 4:05 of the first period. Rumble opened the scoring for the Griffs, connecting on the team’s first power-play chance of the night. The senior blasted a shot from the blue line that hit both posts and crossed the goal line for his third tally of the season. JuniorRalph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) and sophomore Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) both registered assists on the game’s opening goal with 4:05 remaining in the period.
Sheeran then doubled the team’s advantage with just 48 seconds left in the first. On a rush, senior defender Logan Roe (Fort Myers, Fla.) deflected a shot by senior Matthew Grazen (Clarence, N.Y.). The puck hit off the boards behind the goal and went on the other side of the net, where Sheeran knocked it in with the open look for his second goal of the season.
Canisius wasted no time extending its lead in the second, scoring just 19 seconds into the period. After Rigney deflected a shot wide, he cleaned up the rebound and scored on a wrap-around for the 3-0 lead. Seniors Cody Freeman (Toronto, Ontario) and Mitch McCrank (Haileybury, Ontario) both registered assists on Rigney’s third goal of the season.
The three goals were more than enough for the Canisius defense, which limited AIC to just 16 shots on goal – the fewest by a Griffs opponent in more than six years. AIC did squeak one goal into the net when Alexander MacMillan scored off a back-door pass with 10:12 remaining but the Yellow Jackets would not pull any closer as the Canisius defense held its ground.
The Griffs finished the game with a convincing 35-16 edge in shots. Canisius was also 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Yellow Jackets did not convert in three extra-man chances.
Alex Murray recorded 32 saves in the defeat for AIC.
