Hockey Edged by Army, 2-1

West Point, N.Y. ? The Canisius College hockey team lost a hard-fought battle to host Army, 2-1. All three goals came in the last 8:32 of the game as the Griffs fall to 7-12-5 and 6-8-4 in league play.

“It was a playoff type atmosphere tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “Both teams played liked they needed this game. It was a physical game and we came out on the short end of the stick. It is a game that we will be able to learn from in the future.”

Sophomore Andrew Loewen recorded 30 saves for the Griffs. Loewen's school-record scoreless streak ended when the Black Knights scored with 8:32 remaining in the game. The sophomore goalie had not allowed a goal in exactly 201 minutes of play.

Freshman Vincent Scarsella (pictured) scored the lone goal for the Griffs with senior David Kasch and junior Spencer Churchill recording the assists.

After the two schools fought to two scoreless periods in a physical game, the Griffs had a great chance to score with 10:52 left in the game. Canisius fired a shot toward goal and the Army goaltender made the save and attempted to cover the puck. The officials thought the puck was covered and blew the play dead, but the puck squirted out to freshman Cory Conacher, who knocked it in as the game remained deadlocked at zero.

The Black Knights (7-12-3, 7-7-2) would be the first team to get on the scoreboard with a short-handed goal at the 11:32 mark. Army capitalized on a turnover and Owen Meyer knocked the puck in for his 13th score of the season.

Scarsella would knot the game at one with his sixth goal of the season with 4:01 remaining in the game. Churchill sent a crossing pass toward Kasch and the senior then sent another crossing pass toward Scarsella for the power-play score.

Army would quickly respond. Luke Flicek would send a shot toward the goal and the puck trickled past Loewen, hit the post and went in for the game-winning score.

Army was called for a penalty with 2:03 remaining in the game, giving the Griffs at least a one-man advantage for the remainder of the game. Loewen was pulled with 35 seconds remaining but Canisius still couldn't find the equalizer.

Canisius scored one power play score on seven opportunities while killing all five power plays it faced. The Griffs have now allowed only one extra-man score in the last 54 opportunities, while scoring three short-handed goals during the stretch.

The Griffs take a break from Atlantic Hockey play with a trip to Merrimack on Saturday. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.

Game Notes: The previous scoreless streak record was held by Dan Giffin. Giffin held opponents without a goal for 147:34 in 2006 ... In the month of January, Loewen has posted a goals against average of 0.99 and a save percentage of .969 ... Scarsella has knotted the score in the last five minutes of a game three times this season ... The two schools are now tied for fifth place in the Atlantic Hockey standings with 16 points.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Spencer Churchill: F; 6' 0"; Junior

#28 Cory Conacher: F; 5' 5"; Freshman

#25 David Kasch: F; 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior

#1 Andrew Loewen: G; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#23 Vincent Scarsella: F; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#10 Spencer Churchill
: 6' 0"; Junior
: F

#28 Cory Conacher
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: F

#25 David Kasch
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior
: F

#1 Andrew Loewen
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: G

#23 Vincent Scarsella
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: F