USAF Academy, Colo. – The Canisius College hockey team couldn’t hold onto a two-goal lead in a 3-2 setback at Air Force on Saturday night. The loss drops the Griffs to 11-16-5 on the season and 10-11-2 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Falcons improve to 14-10-7 and 12-6-5 against league foes.

“We battled hard and could have been up 4-1 with an inch the other way,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We have to battle the passion that we showed tonight because we played hard. If we continue to play that hard, we will come out on top more times than not.”

Sophomore Doug Beck (Plymouth, Mich.) and freshman Chris Rumble (Chesapeake, Va.)both netted goals for the Griffs.

Junior Tony Capobianco (Mississauga, Ontario) recorded 34 saves in the losing effort.

Canisius grabbed the early advantage thanks to a power-play goal by Beck. Junior Kyle Gibbons (Westlake, Ohio) sent a pass through the slot to McCrank down low in the right face-off circle. McCrank then centered the puck to Beck right in front of the crease and the sophomore knocked it in on an open net for his fifth goal of the season and the 1-0 lead 14:28 into the contest.

Rumble extended the Canisius advantage to two, scoring on the Griffs’ second power play of the night. The rookie fired a shot in from the middle of the blue line for his second tally of the season. Junior Duncan McKellar (Phoenix, Ariz.) and freshman Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) both posted assists on the goal 6:33 into the second frame.

Canisius nearly scored a third goal minutes later but Tyler Wiseman’s (Burlington, Ontario) shot rang off the post and Air Force would take advantage.

The Falcons finally found the back of the net with 10:18 remaining in the second period. Ben Persian redirected a wide shot into the goal to bring Air Force within one, 2-1.

Air Force knotted the game at two with 15:30 remaining in the third period when Scott Holm finished off a 3-2 rush. The Falcons then took their first lead of the night with 8:22 left in the game. Holm picked up a rebound and scored over Capobianco, who hit the ice trying to collect the loose puck, for the game-winning tally.

The Falcons finished the contest with a 37-26 advantage in shots. Canisius was 2-for-3 on the power play, while killing all four Air Force extra-man advantages.

Jason Torf finished with 24 saves in the win for the Falcons.

Canisius returns to action on Friday, hosting Robert Morris. Game time at the Buffalo State Sports Arena is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – In a game that saw five combined special-teams goals, it was a pair of even-strength strikes that handed the No. 2 Oswego State men’s ice hockey team (21-4-0, 14-2-0 SUNYAC) a 4-3 loss to No. 9 Plattsburgh (18-6-1, 12-3-1) Saturday night.

The Lakers remain the No. 1 seed in the upcoming playoffs, and will host the lowest remaining seed following Wednesday’s play-in games on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. Ticket information will be released on Sunday. The Cardinals are the No. 2 seed, and will host the highest remaining seed next Saturday as well.

The Lakers dealt the first blow when Jon Whitelaw (Sr., Huntsville, Ontario) dug out a puck along the far boards to Paul Rodrigues (Sr., Etobicoke, Ontario), who was deep in the zone. He hit Bobby Gertsakis (So., Pickering, Ontario) with a pass, as he was crashing to the back pipe. Gertsakis, then, extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with the power-play goal at 14:42 in the first.

Plattsburgh evened the score late in the frame with a power-play marker of its own when Mark Constantine got the puck past Laker goalie Andrew Hare (Sr., Burlington, Ontario) with assists going to Kevin Emmerling and Jared Docking.

With the score tied at 1-1 heading into the second, the Laker offense turned up the pressure on Cadieux, who made a several strong saves to keep the game tied. It was not until the 14:01 mark that the deadlock ended when Emmerling put away a rebound on another Cardinal power play to put the home team back in front.

Minutes later, Plattsburgh gained another power play following a Laker interference penalty. Matt Singleton (Sr., Whitby, Ontario) blocked a shot at the blue line creating a breakaway on Cardinal goalie Mathieu Cadieux, who came out of the net to try to poke the puck away. Cadieux got a small piece of the puck, causing it roll around in the crease with Cadieux well out of position. David Titanic (Jr., Markham, Ontario) put a stick on it, scoring his ninth goal of the season.

Both squads appeared to be headed into intermission knotted at two, but Nick Jensen scored his sixth goal of the season at 18:39 to send Oswego State into the locker room trailing, 3-2.

Hare kept the Cardinals off the board early in the third when he stopped a pair of shots on a breakaway that would have resulted in a short-handed goal. However, Plattsburgh eventually doubled its lead at 7:45 when Emmerling capitalized on a Laker turnover behind the net and lifted his shot over Hare for his second goal of the game.

Midway through the period, Plattsburgh committed two penalties to give Oswego State a 5-on-3 situation. The Lakers scored 12 seconds into the two-skater advantage when Luke Moodie found the back of the net with a series of tic-tac-toe passes from Rodrigues and Whitelaw.

Oswego State pulled Hare with 46 seconds remaining in regulation, but was unable to net the equalizer to force overtime.

The Lakers ended the game 2-for-6 on the power play with one short-handed goal compared to Plattsburgh, which went 2-for-6 as well. Hare finished the game with 31 saves, while Cadieux ended with 26 stops.

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Despite the 6-5 overtime loss to Robert Morris on Saturday evening at the RMU Island Ice Center, the No. 14/15 Niagara University hockey team secured the outright Atlantic Hockey regular season title with help from outside conference scores.

This is the team’s first AHA regular-season title since the program entered into the conference in 2010-11, and its first conference crown since the 2006-07 season when NU earned the former College Hockey America regular-season title.

It was a back-and-forth affair that saw six power play goals scored between the conference opponents, as well as a shorthanded tally each.  The Purple Eagles (19-6-5; 18-3-2 AHA) came from behind twice in the final 20 minutes of play, but eventually fell to the Colonials (16-12-2; 11-11-1 AHA) two minutes into extra time while on the man-disadvantage.

Giancarlo Iuorio had a four-point night with a goal and a three assists to wrap up the weekend with seven points.  Ryan Murphy also earned a pair of points with two goals, while Dan Weiss (1-1-2) and Hugo Turcotte (0-2-2) each grabbed two-points.

“It was a game filled with a crazy range of emotions,” head coach Dave Burkholder said.  “There were so many momentum swings from going down and then coming back.  Then heading into overtime thinking you need a point to win the regular season, lose on a power play goal and then two minutes later you walk into the locker room to find out you’re regular season champs.  It’s been a crazy night, but I’m certainly proud of these guys.  They have a championship banner, but we still have a lot to play for this season.”

Iuorio started the scoring, pocketing his fourth goal in two games 5:15 into the opening period on a shorthanded tally to give the Purple Eagles an early 1-0 lead.  With 19 seconds remaining on the Colonial power play, Marc Zanette applied pressure on RMU goaltender Eric Levine forcing the turnover.  The puck jumped out to Iuorio who snapped it home for his 16^th goal, and second shorthander of the year.

Robert Morris rebounded with less than five minutes remaining in the opening period off the stick of Colin South whose slap shot to the right of NU netminder Cody Campbell flew over his shoulder to knot the game at one apiece.

Murphy gave the Purple Eagles back the lead heading into the first intermission with his 13^th goal of the season off assists from Iuorio and Weiss.  With two minutes on the clock, Iuorio’s shot was deflected in front and found the stick of Murphy who fired the puck between the legs of Levine to make it 2-1.

A pair of Robert Morris goals during a five minute major to Dan Kolenda midway through the game saw the Purple Eagles fall behind, 3-2.  Just 11 seconds into the man-advantage, RMU evened the game at two apiece.  Campbell saved the initial shot from Adam Brace, but he could not handle the puck and Zac Lynch knocked in the loose puck.

Almost halfway through the power play, RMU tallied its third goal of the game to pull ahead for the first time in the contest.  Scott Jacklin was credited with the goal after his shot to the right of Campbell went off a Niagara defender and slipped under the goalie’s pads.

The Purple Eagles continued to run into more penalty trouble in the later portion of the period, but came out only down by a goal despite being outshot 20-7 in the stanza.

Niagara capitalized on the man-advantage to open the final frame with a pair of power play goals to pull ahead, 4-3 with 12:12 remaining in regulation.  The first tally came just 1:16 into the period as Kevin Ryan found Weiss at the top of the faceoff circle, and the defenseman drilled a one timer that rang off the post and into the back of the net for his second of the year.

Isaac Kohls was the next Purple Eagle to net a power play tally after Robert Morris found themselves down two men.  With 1:02 remaining on the 5-on-3, Iuorio connected with Kohls who slapped his fourth of the year past Levine.

The lead was short lived as RMU netted a pair of goals within a minute to regain the lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the contest.  The game-tying goal was a shorthanded tally that came off the stick of Brace, while Matt Cope helped RMU regain the lead at 9:39 with a wrister from the top of the slot.

With 1:41 left in the contest, Robert Morris’ Evan Moore was called for a cross-checking to give the Purple Eagles an opportunity to tie the game.  Niagara’s power play unit came through for the third time as Murphy scored his second of the game.  A shot from Turcotte into traffic was whacked at by several Purple Eagles before Murphy got his stick on the equalizer to send the game into overtime.

Colin South iced the game with another power play goal with 3:01 on the clock as the Colonials sent the Purps to only their third loss in conference play this season.

Campbell, who was making his first start since Oct. 27 at Clarkson, pushed aside 32 RMU looks on net.

Niagara returns home next Friday for its final home game of the regular season with a two-game series against Mercyhurst.  After the Feb. 22 battle at Dwyer during Senior Night, the Purps travel to Erie, Pa. the following day for another 7 p.m. puck drop.

HANOVER, N.H. – The Colgate men’s hockey team put forth a great effort tonight at Thompson Arena, but in a game that featured three lead changes and four ties it was 17th-ranked Dartmouth coming away with a 5-4 win on Saturday night.

The Raiders (13-13-4, 5-10-3 ECAC) got goals from four different skaters. Darcy Murphy reached double digits with his 10th of the year, while Tylor Spink tied for the team lead with his 11th of the season. Spencer Finney did his part in net as he made 31 stops.

The Big Green (12-9-4, 8-7-3 ECAC) was led by Eric Neiley and Jesse Beamish, who each scored two goals with Neiley scoring the gamewinner late in the third. Dustin Walsh also scored for Dartmouth and Charles Grant made 29 saves to earn the victory.

The Big Green broke the ice with 9:22 remaining in the first with Beamish putting his team on top. Dustin Walsh got around a defender and crashed the net. Finney made the stop, but Beamish was there for the clean up in front of the cage and put it home.

The Raiders answered two minutes later with Mike McCann putting one past Grant on an odd-man rush with Sinz. The two broke into the Dartmouth zone and Nathan Sinz slipped a pass to McCann in front as he took a big hit. McCann was able to first a quick wrister into the net to tie it at 1-1 with 7:33 remaining in the first. Neiley regained the lead for the Big Green with 3:33 left with Mark Goggin adding the assist as Dartmouth took the 2-1 advantage into the locker room.

The second period for the Raiders was a dominant performance with a 13-7 shot advantage. It didn’t take long for Colgate to tie the game up in the second as Murphy tallied his 10th of the year just 1:08 into the frame. Kurtis Bartliff put the initial shot on net that was blocked, but Murphy was there for the score on the rebound. Kevin Lough was also given an assist on the play.

The back-and-forth battle continued as the Big Green regained the lead with Walsh scoring to make it 3-2 with just over 14 minutes left in the period. Geoff Ferguson was stopped by Finney, but the puck took an awkward bounce off Finney’s left pad and Walsh swooped in. He swatted at the biscuit like a baseball player and connected to put the Big Green back up.

Colgate turned on the pressure late in the period and controlled most of the play and it paid off with a 2-on-2 rush into the zone and Wilson scoring to tie it. Robbie Bourdon skated into the zone and dropped the puck to Wilson. He then drove to the net and fired a shot under the bar and over the glove of Grant to tie it again at 3-3 with 3:14 left in the period.

Tylor Spink gave Colgate its first lead of the game midway through the third period on a one-timer from the slot. It was great work down low that lead to the goal. Tylor Spink fired his first shot wide, but Borkowski was able to collect the puck and hit his linemate again for another one-timer that he put past Grant for the 4-3 lead.

Dartmouth fired back to tie it at 4-4 with Beamish adding his second of the night with 8:26 remaining with assist to Jack Barre. Finney was able to stone Barre twice, but a scrum ensued and Beamish was able to dig the puck out of the scrum and past Finney to tie the game.

With six minutes to go, the Raiders were called for interference in front of their own net, which allowed Dartmouth to go on only its second power play of the night. The Big Green were able to take advantage with Neiley firing a shot from the slot after a nice feed from Walsh to put the Big Green ahead for good at 5-4.

Colgate went 0-for-3 on the power play and the Big Green had the shot advantage by a 36-33 margin.

The Raiders will be back in action this coming weekend as Colgate welcomes Union and Rensselaer on Senior Weekend at Starr Rink. Also a reminder to fans that the jersey auction is still going on atauction.gocolgateraiders.com.

USAF Academy, Colo. – The Canisius College hockey team lost to host Air Force on Friday night, 3-1. The drops the Griffs record to 11-15-5 on the season and 10-10-2 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Falcons improve to 13-10-7 and 11-6-5 against league foes.”

“It wasn’t our best game but (goalkeeper) Tony Capobianco did a great job and kept us in the game,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “Tony gave us a chance late but we just couldn’t find the tying goal. We need to quickly regroup and find a way to get points tomorrow.”

Sophomore Mitch McCrank (Haileybury, Ontario) scored the lone goal for the Griffs in defeat.

Junior Tony Capobianco (Mississauga, Ontario) played strong in net, stopping 42 shots on goal.

The Falcons wasted no time grabbing a lead thanks to a tally just 19 seconds into the contest. Kyle De Laurell knocked a rebound in for the early 1-0 Air Force advantage.

Canisius tied the game at one when McCrank tallied his fourth goal of the season 5:58 into the second frame. Junior Kyle Gibbons (Westlake, Ohio) intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and skated in on a 3-2 rush. Gibbons sent a centering pass toward the slot and after an Air Force defender took down his own goalkeeper, McCrank fired the puck in high for tying score.

Air Force reclaimed its lead with 7:21 remaining in the second stanza, scoring on its fourth power-play attempt of the game. Alex Halloran’s blast from the blue line found the back of the net for the 2-1 advantage after 40 minutes of action.

The Falcon defense would take it from there, allowing only three shots on goal during the final frame. Any chances of the Griffs netting a late equalizing tally vanished when the team was whistled for penalties with 2:24 remaining and 56.6 left. Air Force then sealed the victory when Tony Thomas scored with the two-man advantage with 45.7 seconds remaining in the game for the 3-1 win.

Air Force finished the game with a 45-19 advantage in shots, while going 2-for-6 on the power play. Canisius was 0-for-2 with the extra-man advantage.

The schools wrap up the two-game series tomorrow night with game time slated for 9:05 p.m. ET.

Game Notes: The Griffs, which entered the game ranked first nationally in penalty kill, allowed two power-play goals in a game for the first time this season (Canisius was 1-of-2 schools to not allow multiple extra-man tallies this season) … Canisius is now 3-3-4 all-time at Air Force … The Griffs are winless in their last nine games against Air Force (0-4-5).

MASSENA, N.Y. – The second-ranked Oswego State men’s ice hockey team (21-3-0, 14-1-0 SUNYAC) was firing on all cylinders as it scored seven first-period goals, and never looked back in a 10-0 rout over Potsdam (8-15-1, 5-10) Friday night. With the win, the Lakers clinched their fourth straight regular-season conference title and the #1-seed for the State University of New York Athletic Conference playoffs.

Zach Josepher (Sr., Wantagh, N.Y.) and Luke Moodie (Sr., Oakville, Ontario) tallied two goals each, while Jon Whitelaw(Sr., Huntsville, Ontario) registered a goal and three assists and David Titanic (Jr., Markham, Ontario) and Bobby Gertsakis (So., Pickering, Ontario) posted a goal and two assists each.

Potsdam nearly scored 25 seconds into the game, but the net came loose prompting a whistle. It did not take long for the Lakers to get on track, though, starting with a power play in the first minute. Gertsakis scored a goal in his third straight game as his shot from the left point got through traffic past Bear goalie Shane Talarico at the 2:19 mark. Less than two minutes later, Whitelaw made it 2-0 as both teams were skating 4-on-4. Josepher then followed up with a goal from the blue line after Tyler Leimbrock (Sr., Bolton, Ontario) won a faceoff in the Oswego State offensive zone.

The goal prompted a Potsdam timeout, while Austin Keiser came in to replace Talarico. However, the move did not slow down the Lakers as Chris Ayotte (Sr., Cornwall, Ontario) and Chris Muise (Sr., Oakville, Ontario) fed Chris Brown (Sr., Centreville, Ontario) for his seventh goal of the year at 9:54 in the first. Oswego State saw its lead swell to 7-0 at the end of the frame after David Titanic (Jr., Markham, Ontario), Moodie, and Leimbrock added goals, as the Lakers out-shot the Bears, 23-6.

Both teams made goalie changes at the start of the second with Daniel Jones (Sr., Richmond Hill, Ontario) between the pipes for the Lakers and Talarico coming back in for Potsdam. Matt Singleton (Sr., Whitby, Ontario) notched his third goal of the season at 2:52 followed by a Moodie power-play goal that went five-hole just over a minute later.

Josepher tacked on the final goal of the game when he buried a rebound after a Gertsakis shot, while Oswego State was on the power play and Jones came off the ice on a delayed penalty with 35 seconds remaining in the second.

The Lakers finished the game 3-for-5 on the power play compared to Potsdam, which went 0-for-2.

Hare stopped six shots in the first period to pick up the win, while Jones ended up with 13 saves in the final two stanzas. Talarico and Keiser combined to make 44 saves.

Oswego State closes out the regular season Saturday night against Plattsburgh at 7 p.m.