West Springfield, Mass. - The Canisius College hockey team used a late goal to earn its second-straight 2-1 victory against host AIC on Sunday afternoon. The Griffs are now 4-6-3 on the season and 4-1-2 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Yellow Jackets drop to 3-10-2 and 2-5-2 against league foes.
"It was a great weekend for us," said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. "We got a huge goal by Patrick Sullivan late in the game to get us four points for the weekend. We played real smart hockey and our compete level was high today. We were patient but aggressive and we took another step forward as a team."
Sophomore Patrick Sullivan and freshman Tyler Wiseman both scored their first goals of the season in the win.
Senior Dan Morrison backstopped the Canisius defense to the victory with 38 saves. The senior became just the second player in the program's history to reach the 2,500-save plateau, joining Bryan Worosz.
The Yellow Jackets struck first in the contest, scoring 5:06 into the game on the power play. Nielsson Arcibal slipped a shot past Morrison for the early 1-0 advantage.
The Griffs knotted the game with 3:16 remaining in the opening frame when Wiseman netted his first collegiate goal. Freshman Doug Beck skated the puck into the zone and found freshman Carl Larsson open in the high slot. After making a move to beat a defender, Larsson attempted a back-handed shot that was blocked in front. Wiseman cleaned up the rebound and scored high to tie the game at one.
The match remained deadlocked at one until the final minutes of regulation. Freshman Cody Freeman dumped the puck into the corner and Sullivan then gained possession in the zone. The sophomore then backhanded a shot past the AIC goaltender for the game-winning tally. Sophomore Ben Danford also registered an assist on the goal with 2:04 left in regulation.
Overall, the Yellow Jackets finished the contest with a 39-29 advantage in shots on the afternoon but could not solve Morrison in net. The senior netminder stopped the last 35 shots he faced, including all 16 in the final period. The Griffs were 0-for-4 on the power play, while AIC went 1-for-3 with the extra-man advantage.
Ben Meisner recorded 27 saves in the defeat for the Yellow Jackets.
Canisius continues conference action next weekend with a pair of games at Holy Cross. The Griffs and Crusaders begin the series in Worcester on Friday at 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Canisius' 10 points in seven conference games is the second-best start in the program's Division I history, trailing only the 2004-05 team that started Atlantic Hockey play with a 6-1-0 record ... Morrison, who has recorded 2,513 career stops, is now just 258 saves shy of Worosz's school record of 2,771 ... In addition, Morrison stopped all 16 shots he faced during the third period and now owns a goals against average of 0.44 and a save percentage of .985 during the final frame ... Freeman's assist was the first point of his collegiate career ... Canisius is now unbeaten in its last 12 games against AIC (11-0-1), the longest run against any single team in the program's history.
