The Canisius College hockey team scored two late goals to force overtime and senior Jason Weeks scored with 58 seconds left in the extra frame to lead the Griffs to a 7-6 victory over Colgate. With the win, Canisius improves to 9-9-2, while the Raiders fall to 7-6-4.
"We showed great character and great resolve to stick to our systems and come back and win from down two goals," said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. "We played our best two periods to open the game of 5-on-5 hockey than at any other point this season - limiting Colgate to just six even-strength shots. It is great to see seven goals 5-on-5 and it is a great win for us tonight."
Junior Vincent Scarsella and senior Josh Heidinger set up Weeks' late game heroics by each scoring a goal with less than four minutes remaining in regulation. Scarsella brought the Griffs to within one, 6-5, with just 3:50 left in the third period, scoring off passes from freshman Preston Shupe and junior Cory Conacher.
Heidinger then knotted the game just 40 seconds later, tallying his seventh goal of the season. The senior wrapped around the net and beat the Colgate goaltender high to force the extra session. Sophomore Scott Moser and Weeks both registered an assist on the game-tying score.
Canisius was then able to earn its first overtime victory of the season with just 58 seconds remaining in the game. Junior Scott Jenks fired a shot toward goal and Weeks tipped the puck in for his fifth score of the season. Scarsella also registered an assist on the game-winning goal.
"I found a soft spot behind their defense," Weeks said. "Jenks shot it and I tipped it in and just got lucky."
Weeks led the Griffs with four points on the night, matching a career high. The senior scored one goal and added three assists. Seniors Peter MacDougall, Dave Cianfrini and Carl Hudson plus junior Derek Danowski each netted a goal as seven Griffs scored on the night.
Sophomore Dan Morrison recorded 25 saves to earn the victory.
Colgate opened the scoring 3:55 into the contest when Jeremy Price scored on the power play, but the Griffs responded with three-straight goals. MacDougall tallied Canisius' first score of the night at the 8:42 mark for his second tally of the season. The senior was released from the penalty box and skated down on a 2-on-1 break with Heidinger. Heidinger then found his classmate, who buried a shot to knot the game at one. Weeks also posted an assist on the goal.
Cianfrini then gave the Griffs their first lead of the night with 2:28 left in the opening period. The senior and freshman Torrey Lindsay were able to take advantage of another 2-on-1 break. Cianfrini skated in and fired a shot toward goal but the Colgate goalie made the save. Lindsay then redirected the rebound to Cianfrini, who knocked the puck in as he was falling to the ice. Sophomore Dave Kostuch also registered an assist on the score.
Danowski stretched the Griffs' lead to two when he scored his second goal of the season 11:16 into the second period. Junior Chris Forsman sent the puck in from the blue line and Danowski redirected it in for the goal. Moser also posted the first of his two assists on the night.
Colgate would respond by scoring two more power play goals to knot the game at three. Francois Brisebois answered Danowski's goal just 33 seconds later and Matt Firman netted a goal with 5:58 remaining in the period. The two teams headed into the second intermission knotted at three, setting up a third period that featured six goals.
The Raiders netted their fourth power-play goal of the night 5:15 into the period when Price scored his second goal to grab a 4-3 advantage. Canisius responded when Hudson scored his sixth goal of the season 2:41 later. Jenks had his shot from the blue line blocked by a Colgate defender. Weeks, however, corralled the loose puck and fed Hudson, who fired a shot past the Raiders' goalie to knot the game at four.
Colgate then seemingly took control of the game by scoring two goals in an 80-second span to grab a 6-4 lead. Brian Day netted his 11th goal of the season with 8:11 remaining in the game and Firman followed with his second of the night with just 6:51 left in the contest. Canisius would respond though by scoring three goals late to earn the non-conference victory.
"All week we worked on staying in our systems and keeping it simple," Heidinger said. "We did that tonight and it paid off for us in the end."
The Raiders outshot the Griffs, 31-23, and converted four of their six power play opportunities. Canisius was 0-for-5 with the extra-man advantage.
The Griffs return to the ice on Saturday, January 2, hosting an exhibition game against Guelph. Game time at the Amherst Pepsi Center is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Sunday's game can be seen on Time Warner SportsNet on Monday at 7:30 p.m. and on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ... The Griffs are now 1-4-0 all-time against Colgate, including 1-2-0 at the Division I level ... Canisius is unbeaten in its last three games against ECAC opponents (2-0-1) after going winless in its first five attempts against the conference ... Each of its three games during the unbeaten streak have gone into overtime ... The Griffs hosted an ECAC team for the first time ... Hudson and Conacher both extended their career-long streaks of recording a point to eight games ... Hudson's run extends his school record for scoring streaks by a defenseman ... Canisius scored 25 goals during four December contests, averaging 6.25 goals per game.
