Ice Hockey 3/11/2005 12:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Hockey To Host Bentley In Atlantic Hockey Playoffs

#2 Canisius College Golden Griffins (16-14-4, 14-7-3 Atlantic Hockey) vs. #7 Bentley College Falcons (7-19-6, 6-13-5 Atlantic Hockey)
ATLANTIC HOCKEY QUARTERFINAL March 12, 2005 ? 7 p.m. Buffalo State Ice Arena ? Buffalo, N.Y.

A Look At The Griffs The Griffs locked up their highest-ever postseason position with a #2 seed in this season's Atlantic Hockey tournament. Tonight's quarterfinal marks the first time Canisius will host a postseason contest since the 2000-01 season, when the Griffs knocked off Connecticut 4-1, as a #4 seed in the MAAC Hockey League quarterfinals. Last season's leading scorer, sophomore Michael Cohen, again finds himself atop the team's scoring chart with 22 points (9G, 13A). Freshman Joel Kitchen leads the team in goals with 13, while junior David Ovcjak has a team-high 16 assists. Senior goaltender Bryan Worosz currently ranks 22nd nationally in goals against (2.41) and 15th in save percentage (.921). He is 16-10-4 overall and 14-6-3 in Atlantic Hockey action. In conference games only, Worosz tops all goaltenders in save percentage (.923) and is second in goals against (2.35).

Scouting Bentley Bentley closed out the regular season with a loss and a tie at Holy Cross and finished as the #7 seed. The Falcons will be led on offense by junior Brendan McCartin and freshman Anthony Pellarin, who both tied for the team lead with 19 points this season. Excluding the 7-2 loss to Holy Cross last Saturday, senior goalie Simon St. Pierre has posted a 2.58 GAA and a .932 save percentage in his last five appearances. Those five games included performances of 44 saves in a loss to Army and a season-high 46 saves in the 2-2 tie at Holy Cross last Friday. Head coach Ryan Soderquist is in his third season as head coach at his alma mater. A 2000 graduate of Bentley, he is 31-57-10 behind the Falcons' bench.

Series History vs. Bentley Canisius leads the all-time series with Bentley, 15-4-2. Canisius won the season series with the Falcons, 2-1-0. Canisius won the single game at Bentley on Nov. 5, 5-3 and the two team split the weekend series in Buffalo two weeks ago. Freshman Joel Kitchen scored a pair of goals against the Falcons this season, while five others joined him in three-point production against Bentley this season. The Griffs are 7-1-1 against the Falcons at Buffalo State.

Last Time Out BUFFALO, N.Y. ? For the second straight evening, the Canisius College ice hockey team used an offensive potent third period to erase a 2-1 deficit and roll past visiting Army 5-2 Saturday afternoon at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. Canisius secures the #2 seed in next weekend's Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals and will host #7 Bentley on March 12. The Griffs improve to 16-14-4 overall and 14-7-3 in the conference. Army falls to 6-20-3, 5-16-3 in Atlantic Hockey and will be the #8 seed. Canisius staked itself a 1-0 lead at the 6:52 mark of the opening period as Mike Ruberto dug the puck out of the left corner and found Billy Irish-Baker in the slot for his eighth marker of the season. Army knotted the game at a goal apiece at the 14:35 mark of the second period on a goal by Ryan Cruthers.

Cruthers corralled a loose puck and slipped a shot past Canisius goalie Bryan Worosz, sending the game into the second intermission tied 1-1. Army used a quick goal by David Andros just 1:26 into the third period to jump to a 2-1 lead for the second straight night, but the Griffs were up to the task, scoring four unanswered goals to overtake the Black Knights. David Kasch scored the equalizer at the 4:52 mark on a great individual effort after taking a pass from the right boards off the stick of Jon Durno. Kasch went from the backhand to the forehand to bring Army netminder Brad Roberts to the ground and then skated past the goalie and deposited the puck into the empty net for a 2-2 score. Ruberto scored the eventual game-winner at the 8:14 mark, tipping in a shot from the right point by Mark Persick past Roberts for a 3-2 lead. Matt Ruberto and Joey Coccimiglio sealed the game with a pair of goals just 28 seconds apart late in the period. Ruberto's goal came on the power-play with 3:37 remaining and Coccimiglio slipped the puck inside the right post for the final goal of the evening. Worosz posted 14 saves in the win, while Roberts recorded 23 saves in the loss for Army.
The Nation's Best On Nov. 22, InsideCollegeHockey.com named senior goaltender Bryan Worosz its National Player of the Week following Worosz's performance in the Griffs' weekend sweep of visiting Connecticut. Worosz posted a 30-save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Huskies Friday night and followed up with 36 more stops in Saturday's 5-1 win. The following day, Worosz was named the USCHO/ITECH Division I Defensive Player of the Week by the staff of USCHO.com.

All In The Family Several members of the 2004-05 Golden Griffins have interesting connections to the professional sports world. They include: Greg Brown - cousin of Jeff Jurek (played at Canisius in 1999-2000) Max Buetow - son of Bart “Mad Scientist” Buetow (played football for the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings and played football and hockey at Minnesota) Ryan Corcoran - nephew of Lou Nanne (player/coach/general manager with the Minnesota North Stars from 1968-78, captain of the U.S. Olympic Team in 1967-68 and inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998 and into the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004) Andrew Dawe - cousin of Jason Dawe (1991 second-round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, played with Buffalo, Montreal, and the New York Islanders and New York Rangers) son of Mike Dawe (played for Cornell University) Jon Durno - brother of Chris Durno (four-year letter winner for Michigan Tech) Jaymie Harrington - brother of Lance Harrington (member of 2001 NCAA Division III Ice Hockey National Champions at Norwich) Craig Nooyen - son of Paul Nooyen and nephew of Pete Nooyen (both played professional hockey in Holland) Jeremy Redquest - son of Greg Redquest (fourth-round selection of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1976 NHL Draft) Matt and Mike Ruberto - nephew of George Beveridge (selected 121st overall by the Minnesota North Stars in the eighth round of the 1973 NHL amateur draft) Tim Songin - son of Paul Songin (played defense for the University at Buffalo hockey team) cousin of Tom Songin (played right wing for the Boston Bruins) cousin of Ed “Butch” Songin (played quarterback for the Boston Patriots)

Home Sweet Home Enjoying a 48-23-13 record within the confines of Buffalo State Sports Arena over their six-plus seasons, the Griffs are 6-5-2 at home this season. The Blue and Gold were 6-7-2 at home last season.
Three Times The Charm Canisius is 14-1-2 when scoring three or more in a game this season. The Griffs do not fare as well when scoring two goals or less, going 2-13-2 in those games.

Atlantic Hockey Honors Senior netminder Bryan Worosz earned his fifth conference award of the season, after being selected as the Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week after leading the Griffs to a weekend sweep of American International College. Worosz posted 45 saves over the weekend, including 23 saves in a 6-0 shutout. Worosz earned his previous conference awards of the season, garnering Goaltender of the Week honors on Oct. 25, Nov. 22 and Feb. 7, and Player of the Week honors on Nov. 15. Joining Worosz is sophomore Billy Irish-Baker who was named Player of the Week on Dec. 13, after scoring a pair of goals in the weekend series with Mercyhurst. Irish-Baker tallied the Griffs' first short-handed goal of the season as the Griffs reclaimed first place in Atlantic Hockey.
2004-05 Atlantic Hockey Tournament The 2004-05 Atlantic Hockey Championship began March 9 with the #8/#9 Play-In Game featuring #8 Army hosting #9 AIC. With a 5-3 win, the Black Knights ended AIC's season and advanced to face top-seeded Quinnipiac this weekend. Next Friday and Saturday, the semifinals and championship will be held at the home rink of the highest remaining seed. This is the fifth year that the NCAA will grant an automatic berth to the winner of the conference championship into the NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament.

Griffs in the Postseason Canisius is 4-6 in the postseason, since joining the Division I ranks in the 1998-99 season. That first season, Canisius advanced to the inaugural MAAC Hockey League Championship game, falling to Holy Cross 4-3. The Griffs are 2-1 in postseason games in Buffalo, posting wins over AIC (7-4) and Connecticut (4-1) and falling to Iona (3-4). Canisius has not hosted a postseason contest since the 2000-01 season, a 4-1 win over Connecticut.

2004-2005 Atlantic Hockey Standings http://www.collegehockeystats.com/0405/standings/atlantic
2004-2005 Overall Atlantic Hockey Statistics http://www.collegehockeystats.com/0405/overallstats/atlantic
2004-2005 Atlantic Hockey Conference Statistics http://www.collegehockeystats.com/0405/confstats/atlantic
2004-2005 Canisius Schedule/Results/Box Scores http://www.collegehockeystats.com/0405/schedules/cnsm
Top Of The Charts Bryan Worosz has posted 2,750 career saves to move into first place on the all-time save list at Canisius. Worosz passed former Griff Derek Slater (1991-94), who was the all-time leader with 2,100 stops on Nov. 12, with 34 saves against Sacred Heart. In 2002-03, Worosz broke the single-season marks with 2,059 minutes played (old mark - 1,509-Bob Janosz) and 36 games played (old mark - 27-Derek Slater and Janosz).

O Brother, Where Art Thou Canisius' roster boasts two pairs of brothers, the Irish-Bakers and the Rubertos. Junior Brandon Irish-Baker is a year younger than his brother, sophomore Billy Irish-Baker. Brandon joined the Griffs directly out of high school at Williamsville North, while Billy honed his skills as a member of the USHL's Chicago Freeze. Identical freshman twins Mike and Matt Ruberto joined the Griffs this season from the Cleveland Barons of the NAHL. Contrary to popular belief, the Coccimiglios (senior Fred and sophomore Joey) are not directly related, even though they hail from the same town, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and both played for the Soo Thunderbirds of the NOJHA.

Mount Buetow Sophomore goaltender Max Buetow is the tallest netminder in all of NCAA Division I ice hockey at 6 feet 6 inches. The next tallest men between the pipes are a trio of 6-foot-4-inch goalies: Northern Michigan's Tuomas Tarkki, Brown's Kevin Kliman and Harvard's John Daigneau.

Far and Away So far this season, the Griffs have traveled approximately 18,640 miles by bus and by air. While the Blue and Gold routinely have one of the longest road trips on a regular basis, the season's squad added over 11,000 miles to their itinerary by traveling to Anchorage, Alaska to compete in the season-opening Nye Frontier Classic hosted by the Seawolves.
For a complete set of these notes, go to the Game Center, or copy the following address into your browser: http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/20500/athletics/dept/gamenotes/2003.asp

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Players Mentioned

#24 Greg Brown: F; 5' 11"; Freshman

#35 Max Buetow: G; 6' 5"; Sophomore

#37 Joey Coccimiglio: F; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#9 Michael Cohen: F; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#19 Ryan Corcoran: F; 5' 10"; Senior

#10 Andrew Dawe: F; 5' 9"; Junior

#15 Jaymie Harrington: F; 6' 5"; Junior

#3 Billy Irish-Baker: F; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#18 Brandon Irish-Baker: D; 5' 11"; Junior

#25 David Kasch: F; 6' 4"; Sophomore

#14 Joel Kitchen: F; 6' 1"; Freshman

#23 Craig Nooyen: D; 6' 0"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#24 Greg Brown
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: F

#35 Max Buetow
: 6' 5"; Sophomore
: G

#37 Joey Coccimiglio
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: F

#9 Michael Cohen
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: F

#19 Ryan Corcoran
: 5' 10"; Senior
: F

#10 Andrew Dawe
: 5' 9"; Junior
: F

#15 Jaymie Harrington
: 6' 5"; Junior
: F

#3 Billy Irish-Baker
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: F

#18 Brandon Irish-Baker
: 5' 11"; Junior
: D

#25 David Kasch
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: F

#14 Joel Kitchen
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: F

#23 Craig Nooyen
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: D