Sixth-ranked Miami completed the two-game sweep of the Canisius College hockey teamon Saturday night with a 5-2 victory at Steve Cady Arena. The loss drops the Griffs to 1-4-0 on the season, while the nationally-ranked RedHawks improve to 5-2-1.
“After a slow start to the game, we battled very hard against what I think is the top team in the nation right now,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We showed a lot of growth, especially on the power play. Since our first game almost a month ago, we’ve learned a lot about ourselves and what it takes to be successful.”
Seniors Ben Danford (Stillwater, Minn.) and Kyle Gibbons (Westlake, Ohio) both scored for the Griffs in the defeat.
Senior Tony Capobianco (Mississauga, Ontario) recorded a season-best 40 saves for Canisius.
The RedHawks struck first in the contest, taking advantage of their first power play of the night. Austin Czarnik made a couple of nice moves to break free of the Canisius defense and finished for the 1-0 advantage 4:45 into the contest.
Canisius tied the game at one, scoring a power-play goal of its own. At the point, Danford faked out a Miami forward and sent a wrist shot into the back of the net for his first goal of the season. Gibbons and junior Cody Freeman (Toronto, Ontario) both registered assists on the power-play tally with 7:45remaining in the opening period.
Miami, however, would answer right back, scoring just 10 seconds after Canisius tied the game. Alex Gacek knocked in a rebound to help the RedHawks reclaim its lead, 2-1, with 7:35 left in the first. Miami added one final tally in the first period when Anthony Lewis finished a 4-on-2 rush with just 74 seconds remaining to give the RedHawks a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes of play.
The RedHawk momentum carried over to early in the second frame when Miami connected on its second power play of the day. Jimmy Mullin got behind the Canisius defense and skated in on a 1-on-1 with the goalie, finishing for the 4-1 lead 1:44 into the period.
Canisius pulled to within two early in the third period, scoring its second power play goal of the night. Gibbons sent a shot into the back of the net from the high slot for his third tally of the season just 47 seconds into the stanza. Danford and sophomore Chris Rumble (Seattle, Wash.) both registered an assist on the power-play tally.
The Griffs, however, were unable to get any closer and Miami would seal the victory when Czarnik scored the team’s third-power play goal of the night with 8:06 remaining in regulation.
Miami finished the contest with a 45-25 advantage in shots on the night. The RedHawks were also 3-for-7 on the power play, while Canisius went 2-for-7 with the extra-man advantage.
Jay Williams stopped 23 shots in net to earn the victory for the RedHawks.
Canisius returns to Atlantic Hockey action next weekend, playing at Robert Morris on Friday. Game time in Pittsburgh is set for 7:05 p.m.
