The Canisius College hockey team defeated AIC, 5-1, at the Amherst Pepsi Center on Saturday night. The Griffs completed the season sweep of the Yellow Jackets and improved to 13-11-6 on the season and 11-9-4 in Atlantic Hockey play.
Junior defender Carl Hudson led the Griffs with two goals. Junior Jason Weeks, sophomore Eric Rex and freshman Wes Love also added a score, while sophomores Cory Conacher and Vincent Scarsella both posted three assists.
“We played great this weekend,” Hudson said. “We stayed on an even keel and pulled out the sweep. I felt great to score a couple of goals but it is even better to get the two points tonight and the sweep for the weekend.”
Junior Andrew Loewen stopped 29 shots in goal to remain unbeaten in his last four games.
Weeks opened the scoring for the Griffs, finding the back of the net 6:48 into the contest on the power play. The junior scored off a feed from Conacher for his 10th score of the season. Scarsella also posted an assist on the goal.
Canisius stretched its lead to two when Hudson tallied his first goal of the game. Conacher found the junior defender charging the net and Hudson tipped the puck in for the 2-0 advantage. Weeks also posted an assist on the goal. AIC cut the Griffs' lead to one when Dean Yakura scored with nine seconds left in a five-minute major penalty.
Hudson scored his second goal of the night with 6:44 left in the second period, notching his sixth power play goal of the season. Conacher passed the puck to Hudson at the top of the slot and Hudson then fired the puck in for his 12th goal of the year. Scarsella also registered an assist on the goal.
Love gave the Griffs a three-score advantage with a power play goal 5:35 into the third period. The rookie scored off a feed from Weeks for his third tally of the season. Scarsella posted his third assist of the night on the goal. Rex rounded out scoring for the Griffs, connecting for his first goal of the season just 66 seconds later. Junior Peter MacDougall and sophomore Derek Danowski both registered assists on the score.
Canisius converted 3-of-7 power play opportunities, while AIC (4-23-1, 4-19-0 Atlantic Hockey) was 1-for-6 with the extra-man advantage.
“I thought we played very well,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We have a tough trip against Connecticut next weekend. We will enjoy this one today, rest tomorrow and get back to work on Monday.”
Canisius returns to the ice on Friday with a two-game series at Connecticut.
Game Notes: The Griffs swept a season series for the first time since taking all three games against Army and Connecticut during the 2004-05 season ... Canisius defeated an opponent four times in a single season for the first time since the 1998-99 season against Fairfield and Sacred Heart ... Hudson now ranks first nationally among defenders with 0.41 goals per game ... Hudson's power play goal was the 18th of his career, breaking a tie with David Deeves for second in school history ... Hudson has scored 18 of his 28 career goals on the power play ... Weeks moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Canisius Division I record book with 37 career goals and into eighth place 78 career points.
