Columbus, Ohio – The Canisius College hockey team lost to Big Ten foe Ohio State on Friday night, 4-1. The loss drops the Griffs to 2-6-0 on the season, while the Buckeyes moved to 2-7-0.
“We made too many aggressive mistakes,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “Fortunately, they’re all correctable and I expect us to clean those up in the future. We continue to have a positive mindset and play with good effort and we look forward to having another chance to get a win tomorrow.”
Senior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) scored the lone goal for the Griffs in defeat.
Freshman Simon Hofley (Ottawa, Ontario) recorded a career-best 42 saves in a strong performance in net for Canisius.
The Buckeyes opened the scoring 8:28 into the contest with Luke Stork’s third tally of the season. After a Canisius turnover, Nick Schilkey beat a Canisius defender before finding Stork on the back door for the 1-0 lead.
Ohio State doubled its advantage early in the second frame when Matthew Weis connected for his fourth goal of the year. Weis finished a pass that went through the low slot for the 2-0 lead with 14:22 remaining in the second.
The Buckeyes quickly stretched their advantage to three early in the third period. Hofley stopped an initial Ohio State breakaway only for a trailing Buckeye, Anthony Greco, to knock the rebound into the net 49 seconds into the period for the 3-0 lead.
The Griffs finally got on the scoreboard less than two minutes later in a 4-on-4 situation. Cuddemi collected a loose puck, skated into the Ohio State zone and finished with a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the season. Sophomore defender Jack Stander (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) registered an assist on the tally with 17:22 remaining in regulation.
Canisius continued to pour on the pressure following the goal and had some good looks. However, the Griffs could not pull any closer and the Buckeyes sealed the victory when Brendon Kearny finished from the slot with 5:23 remaining for the 4-1 final score.
Overall, Ohio State finished the game with a 46-30 advantage in shots on the night with neither team scoring in two power-play chances.
The schools wrap up the two-game series tomorrow afternoon at Value City Arena with game time slated for 4:05 p.m.
Game Notes: The Griffs remain winless against Big Ten schools with a 0-8-1 all-time mark versus the conference, including a 0-4-1 mark against Ohio State … Canisius has now been outscored, 14-1, in the first period this season … Canisius has scored more goals in the third period this season (8) than the first and second periods combined (6) … The Griffs top line (Cuddemi, Shane Conacher and Ryan Schmelzer) have now accounted for 78.6 percent of the team’s tallies this season, scoring or assisting on 11-of-14 goals … The Griffs’ 30 shots on the night are a season high, surpassing the total of 28 against Penn State in the season opener … Ohio State’s 46 shots are also a season for a Canisius opponent, topping the mark of 45 set by Penn State … Canisius remains stuck on 499 all-time varsity victories.
