Worcester, Mass. - A late power-play goal lifted Holy Cross over the Canisius College hockey team on Friday night, 3-2. The loss drops the Griffs to 4-7-3 on the season and 4-2-2 in league play, while the Crusaders improve to 6-7-0 and 4-4-0 against Atlantic Hockey foes.
Senior Scott Moser and sophomore Kyle Gibbons both scored for the Griffs, while sophomore Tony Capobianco stopped 31 shots in net.
The Crusaders struck first in the contest, scoring 6:39 into the game on an odd-man rush when Adam Schmidt finished for the early 1-0 advantage.
The Griffs answered back just over three minutes later when Gibbons netted his team-leading fifth goal of the season. From the corner, sophomore Taylor Law found Gibbons open in the slot and Gibbons buried his attempt to knot the game at one. Freshman Mitch McCrank also posted an assist on Canisius' first goal of the night.
Holy Cross reclaimed its lead with 7:57 remaining in the opening period when Andrew Cox scored from the blue line on a power play as the teams headed into the first intermission with the Crusaders leading, 2-1.
Canisius once again responded and tied the game when Moser netted his first power-play goal of the season and third tally overall. Playing the point, Gibbons found Law open in the right face-off circle but Law had his shot blocked. The puck found Moser unmarked on the other side and the senior captain finished on an open net for the 2-2 score with 7:34 remaining in the second stanza.
The score remained deadlocked at two until the closing minutes of regulation. Holy Cross was awarded a power play with 3:17 remaining in the third period and took advantage when Cox netted his second of the night with 134 seconds left in regulation for the 3-2 final.
The Crusaders held a 34-18 advantage in shots on the night, while going 2-for-3 on the power play. The Griffs converted 1-of-2 extra-man opportunities.
Matt Ginn stopped 16 shots in goal to earn the victory for Holy Cross.
The schools wrap up the two-game series tomorrow afternoon with game time slated for 3:05 p.m.
Game Notes: The Griffs have netted a power-play goal in three of their last four games after scoring in only one of their first 10 contests ... Either Gibbons or Law has recorded a point on 16 of the team's 23 goals this season, including both tallies on Friday night ... Canisius allowed more than one goal (not including empty-net scores) for only the second time in eight conference games.
