Orono, Maine – The Canisius College hockey team dropped a 4-1 decision at Maine in front of 3,559 fans at Alfond Arena on Friday night. The Griffs are now 6-7-5 on the season, while the Black Bears improve to 5-13-1.

“It was a good hockey game that featured a lot of pace,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “It came down to a few plays that Maine was able to capitalize on and we did not.”

Senior Doug Jessey scored the lone goal for the Griffs on the night.

Senior Keegan Asmundson played strong between the pipes, stopping 37-of-40 shots against the Hockey East foe.

The Black Bears opened the scoring just under five minutes into the contest when Conor Reilly netted his first goal of the season. After a long possession by Maine, the defender fired a shot in from the blue line that found the back of the net for the 1-0 lead 4:55 into the game.

Canisius tied the contest when Jessey tallied his second goal of the season with 9:48 remaining in the opening period. Senior Doug Beck gained possession of the puck alone behind the net and attempted a wrap-around. The puck squirted out to Jessey right in front of the net and the captain knocked it in for the 1-1 game. Sophomore Josh Kielich also registered an assist on the tally.

Maine regained its lead with 6:59 left in the second stanza. The Black Bears nearly had a 2-on-0 breakaway only to see Jessey swat the puck away to the boards. However, Nolan Vesey picked up the loose puck, skated toward net and snuck it past the Canisius netminder for the 2-1 lead after two periods of play.

After a number of near misses by both schools early in third period where both netminders came up with big saves, it was Maine who finally took advantage halfway through the period. Malcolm Hayes knocked a rebound in to extend the Black Bears lead to two, 3-1, with 10:25 remaining in the game.

The Black Bears then finished off the victory when Devin Shore scored an empty-net goal with 3.2 seconds left for the 4-1 victory.

Maine finished the game with a 41-29 advantage in shots on the night. Neither team was able to capitalize on the power play in two chances for the Griffs and one for the Black Bears.

The schools wrap up the two-game non-conference series tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

Game Notes: The Griffs drop to 0-2-0 all-time against Maine and remain winless in 10 contests against Hockey East schools (0-8-2) … Sophomore Shane Conacher had his career-best five-game point streak snapped … Kielich recorded a point in back-to-back games for the third time in his career … The 41 shots allowed matched a season high for Canisius (also against Ohio State on Nov. 1).