"All the credit goes to the players tonight," said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. "After a slow start, the leadership and commitment in the locker room earned us this victory. It feels great to be rewarded for such a supreme effort."

With time winding down in the extra session, senior Cory Conacher fed classmate Vincent Scarsella in the slot. Scarsella then sent a shot toward the goal and Gibbons deflected the puck down and past the Robert Morris goaltender for the game-winning score.

Conacher and Gibbons both led the Griffs with two points, scoring a goal and adding an assist. Senior Eric Rex rounded out the scoring for Canisius with his fifth goal of the season.

Freshman Tony Capobianco anchored the Canisius defense with 34 saves to earn his first collegiate victory in goal.

The Griffs survived a slow start to the contest and headed into the first intermission trailing only by one score, 1-0. Chris Kushneriuk tallied the only goal of the period for the Colonials, following his own rebound 67 seconds into the contest. Robert Morris outshot Canisius, 17-5, during the opening stanza but Capobianco turned away 16 shots to keep the Griffs in the contest.

Canisius then knotted the game at one with 8:23 remaining in the second period. Junior Scott Moser sent a cross-ice pass to Rex and after his initial shot hit the post, the senior scored on the rebound to tie the game. Freshman Patrick Sullivan also registered an assist on Rex's career-best fifth score of the season.

The Griffs then claimed their first lead of the night, scoring with 6:28 left in regulation. Gibbons put a shot on goal but the Robert Morris goaltender deflected the puck up. Conacher was there to knock it down and into the back of the net for his team-leading seventh tally of the season. Freshman Ben Danford added an assist as Canisius gained a 2-1 advantage.

Robert Morris did not go away quietly, however, knotting the game at two with just 1:58 left in the third period. After a flurry of shots, Brandon Blandina scored his second goal of the season to send the game into overtime, leading to Gibbons' heroics.

"It is an awesome feeling to get that win," Conacher said. "It was a full team effort. We have been waiting for that bounce and tonight we got it. We have been playing well the past couple of weeks but we just haven't been able to get that bounce and tonight, that was the difference."

The Colonials held a 36-32 advantage in shots on the night, but Canisius outshot Robert Morris, 27-19, following the first period. Neither team was able to capitalize on the power play, going scoreless in five extra-man chances. Eric Levine recorded 29 saves for the Colonials in the defeat.

Canisius returns to the ice on Saturday with a road contest at Bentley. Game time is slated for 7:05 p.m.

Game Notes: Canisius has now won its last three games against nationally-ranked opponents ... Half of the Griffs' 14 games this season have gone into overtime ... Canisius is 1-2-4 in its seven overtime contests ... Conacher moved into second place in the school's all-time scoring list ... The senior now has 120 career points, passing David Deeves, who posted 119 points from 1998 to 2002 ... Conacher now only trails former teammate Josh Heidinger, who registered 132 career points ... Rex now has 10 points this season, only three shy of his total during his first three seasons ... In his first two games of his collegiate career, Capobianco owns a 1-0-1 record, 1.40 goals against average and .961 save percentage ... The win was the first for the home team between the two schools in the all-time series ... The home team entered with a 0-4-1 mark.