The Canisius College hockey team won its first Atlantic Hockey game of the year, defeating three-time defending champion Air Force, 3-1. With the win, the Griffs improve to 2-5-0 on the season and 1-2-0 in league play, while the Falcons drop to 2-5-0 and 2-1-0 against Atlantic Hockey foes.
"I thought our players came out strong and with a lot of passion this afternoon," said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. "The way we played in the first 10 minutes is the way we want to play all the time."
Junior Vincent Scarsella led the Griffs with a pair of goals and an assist, while classmate Cory Conacher added a goal and an assist.
Sophomore Dan Morrison recorded 41 saves to anchor the Canisius defense and earn the victory.
Canisius wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, tallying the opening goal just 54 seconds into the contest. Conacher crossed a pass to Scarsella on a two-man rush and the junior knocked the puck in for his second goal of the season. Forward Preston Shupe added an assist on the goal.
Air Force would knot the game at one in the second frame, finding the back of the net on a power play. Jacques Lamoureux beat Morrison on a tough-angle shot to square the game 9:54 into the period.
The Griffs would reclaim their advantage in the third period when Conacher scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season. Scarsella skated in the zone with the puck and found a charging Chris Forsman. Forsman then fed the puck to Conacher on the back door, who scored on the open goal with 14:19 left in the game.
Scarsella sealed the Griffs' first Atlantic Hockey victory of the season with an empty-net goal with 25 seconds left in the game.
"After being swept by Holy Cross last weekend, we knew that we needed to get a home win today," Conacher said. "We came into the game with a positive attitude and came out flying. It was nice to get that first goal right away and be able to play from ahead. We had a little bit of a down second period but we came out flying once again in the third and got the two goals that we needed."
Air Force outshot the Griffs, 42-30. The Falcons converted 1-of-4 power play opportunities, while Canisius did not score in three extra-man chances. Air Force's Andrew Volkening recorded 27 saves in net.
The teams wrap up the two-game set tomorrow afternoon at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. Game time is set for 3:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Canisius has won the last three meetings against the Falcons and now leads the all-time series, 5-4-2 ... The Griffs had the lead after one period of play for the first time this season ... Morrison recorded at least 40 saves for the second time this season. He also stopped 48 shots in a 1-0 victory over Ferris State ... Morrison now owns a 1.01 goals against average in the third period and a .973 save percentage.
