"I liked our game and I liked our effort today," said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. "We just had a couple bad bounces and couple huge mistakes that proved to be very costly."

Senior Dave Cianfrini and junior Pat Kenney each scored for the Griffs. Sophomore Dan Morrison stopped 23 shots in goal.

Canisius got on the scoreboard first when Kenney tallied his first goal of the season 9:47 into the contest. Kenney skated in along the boards and scored from a tough-angle shot. Senior Peter MacDougall and freshman Steven Shafer each registered an assist on the game's opening goal.

The Crusaders answered right back, scoring just 26 seconds later to knot the game at one. Brodie Sheahan knocked the puck in off a feed from Kyle Fletcher for his first goal of the season. Holy Cross then took the lead with 2:33 remaining in the first period when Everett Sheen took advantage of a Canisius turnover with an unassisted tally.

Holy Cross stretched its lead to two when another Canisius miscue led to a goal. Jay Silvia took advantage for his second goal of the season 7:16 into the second stanza.

Canisius cut the deficit to one with 7:43 remaining in the game, scoring with the extra-man advantage. Cianfrini fired a shot in from the blue line for his first goal of the season. Sophomore Dave Kostuch and senior Vincent Amigone both posted assists on the power play score.

Holy Cross was whistled for another penalty right after the Canisius goal, putting the Griffs back on the power play. However, Canisius was unable to knot the game to fall to 0-2-0 in league play. In total, the Griffs were 1-for-6 with the extra-man advantage, while killing all three Holy Cross power plays.

"We can come back from this and it starts from a good week of practice," said senior Josh Heidinger. "It is a long year and we would have liked for better results this weekend but we will regroup. We will watch the video and learn from it. All the right things are in place. We just need to work a little harder and that will get the job done."

Canisius outshot the Crusaders, 29-26, but only mustered three shots on goal in the third period. Holy Cross' Thomas Tysowsky recorded 27 saves to earn the victory.

The Griffs continue Atlantic Hockey play next weekend, hosting Air Force for a pair of games. The series will begin on Saturday at 3:05 p.m.

Game Notes: Canisius has now been outscored 11-2 in the first period ... The Griffs have allowed three more goals in the first period then the second and third periods combined ... The Griffs have not had the lead after one period of play this season ... Canisius has lost four-consecutive regular season games for the first time since Nov. 16 to Nov. 24, 2007 ... Canisius lost its first two league games for the first time since 2005-06.