West Point, N.Y. - The Canisius College hockey team earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Army on Saturday night, completing a two-game sweep against the Black Knights. With the win, the Griffs improve to 6-11-3 and 6-5-2 in Atlantic Hockey play, while Army drops to 2-11-6 and 1-9-4 against league foes.
Freshman Doug Jessey and senior captain Scott Moser both scored in the victory.
Senior Dan Morrison recorded 35 saves to earn the win in net for the Griffs.
"Senior leadership was key for us tonight as our two seniors won this game," said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. "Scott Moser came up with a huge face-off goal and Dan Morrison made a number of key saves for us. We showed a lot of fight in our game tonight and Army fought hard as well. It was a great weekend by our seniors, capped by going home with four key points."
Jessey gave the Griffs the lead with his first collegiate goal 18:04 into the contest. The freshman defender blasted a shot into the back of the net from the blue line for the early 1-0 advantage. Sophomores Duncan McKellar and Taylor Law both registered an assist on the game's opening tally.
The Griffs' lead held until 14:38 left in regulation when the Black Knights finally scored a goal. Andy Starczewski tied the game with a wrist shot, taking advantage of a 2-on-1 situation.
Canisius answered back and scored just over two minutes later with 12:26 remaining in the third frame. Sophomore Patrick Sullivan won a face-off to Moser and the senior captain sent a wrist shot into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season
That was all the offense Morrison and the Canisius defense would need from there. Army could not find the equalizer in the final 12-plus minutes and the Griffs successfully killed two Black Knight power plays in the final five minutes to earn the 2-1 victory.
Army finished the night with a 36-23 advantage in shots on the night but went 0-for-8 on the power play. The Griffs did not convert in three extra-man opportunities. Ryan Leets finished with 21 saves for the Black Knights.
Canisius returns to Buffalo next weekend to start a six-game homestand against Connecticut. The Griffs and the Huskies begin their two-game series on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: The weekend sweep was the first-ever for Canisius at Army ... The Griffs entered the weekend with a 4-12-2 all-time record at Army ... Moser appeared in his 100th-consecutive game for the Griffs ... Moser's goal is his second game-winning tally of the season.
