For the second time in three games, the Canisius College hockey fell in overtime, losing to Army, 1-0, on Sunday night at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. The loss drops the Griffs to 6-8-4 and 5-4-2 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Black Knights improve to 6-8-2 and 6-3-2 against league foes.

 “It was a tough way to lose on a bouncing puck when we had a lot of momentum,” said Canisius head coachDave Smith. “As we gain more experience moving forward, we’ll find a way to win that game earlier. It was a real defensive battle that comes down to one odd-man rush and they capitalized on it.”

 Junior Tony Capobianco (Mississauga, Ontario) anchored the Griffs defense on the night, stopping 35 shots. Capobianco held his opponent to one or fewer goals for the eighth time this season and for the sixth time in the last seven contests.

 During the scoreless regulation, it was the Canisius penalty kill that came up big. The Griffs successfully killed seven Army power plays during a 25-minute stretch in the second and third periods to send the contest into the extra session.

 The Griffs then had a golden opportunity in the overtime when junior Kyle Gibbons (Westlake, Ohio) had a breakaway but Army’s Rob Tadazak made one of his 25 saves on the night to preserve the scoreless affair.

 The Black Knights then took advantage when Joe Kozlak finished on a 2-on-1 rush with 2:09 remaining in the overtime.

 Army held a 36-25 advantage in shots on the night. The Griffs killed all seven Black Knight power plays, while going 0-for-2 with the extra-man advantage.

Previously…

The Canisius College hockey team cruised to a 5-1 victory against Army on Saturday night at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. With the win, the Griffs improve to 6-7-4 and 5-3-2 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Black Knights fall to 5-7-2 and 5-3-2 against league foes.

 The Griffs controlled the game throughout, registering a season-high 51 shots and allowing just 19 shots on goal ­– one shy of the team’s season low.

 Senior captain Preston Shupe (Weyburn, Saskatchewan) led the Griffs offense on the night, matching career highs with three points and two goals. Sophomore Matthew Grazen (East Amherst, N.Y.) also matched his personal best with two points on a goal and an assist, while juniors Ryan Bohrer (West St. Paul, Minn.) and Patrick Sullivan (Derby, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring for the Griffs.

 Junior Tony Capobianco (Mississauga, Ontario) recorded 18 saves in net for the Griffs and allowed one or fewer goal for the seventh time this season.

 “We played really well as units of five today,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “It was nice to see some real good team players like Preston Shupe and Matthew Grazen be rewarded for their hard work with goals tonight. Now, we need to reload and do it again tomorrow because Army will come at us strong.”

 Canisius grabbed the early lead in the contest and never looked back thanks to a five-minute major penalty on Army. Freshman Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) found Bohrer open on the back door and the junior knocked the puck in for the 1-0 advantage. Junior Duncan McKellar (Phoenix, Ariz.) also registered an assist on the power-play goal 9:46 into the contest.

 Grazen then stretched the Griffs’ lead to two at the 12:45 mark of the first with his third goal of the season. Off a face-off victory, Grazen gained possession of the puck down low and stuffed it into the back of the net. Shupe and senior Torrey Lindsay (Grosse Isle, Manitoba) registered assists on the tally.

 Shupe then added his first goal of the night 1:08 into the second frame. Grazen sent a back-handed shot toward the net and Shupe deflected it in for the 3-0 lead. Sophomore Stephen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario) also posted an assist on the score.

 Army answered back with its only goal of the night when the puck deflected off Zak Zaremba and into the net at the 7:03 mark of the second. However, Canisius finished the scoring in the period when Sullivan knocked a rebound in with 3:14 remaining in the second. Junior Kyle Gibbons (Westlake, Ohio) and sophomore Doug Beck (Plymouth, Mich.) each registered assists on Sullivan’s third goal of the season.

 The Griffs finished the scoring with 3:44 remaining in the contest when Shupe netted his second of the night and sixth of the season. Lindsay floated a pass past the Army defense and Shupe buried his 1-on-1 attempt for the 5-1 victory. Sophomore Braeden Rigney (Singhampton, Ontario) added an assist to seal the four-goal victory.

 Canisius finished the night 1-for-9 on the power play, while killing all three Black Knight opportunities. Ryan Leets recorded 46 saves for Army in the defeat.

Canisius takes a break from conference play next weekend with a pair of home games against Bowling Green. The teams open the series on Saturday at the Buffalo State Sports Arena at 12:05 p.m.

OSWEGO, N.Y. – The No. 2-Oswego State men’s ice hockey team (11-2-0) ended 2012 with a 7-2 victory against Lawrence University to earn its fourth-ever Pathfinder Bank/Oswego State Hockey Classic Championship trophy and first since the 2009-10 season.

Jesse McConney (Sr., Barrie, Ontario) was named Most Valuable Player after tallying six points on three goals and three assists, including a pair of goals and a pair of assists in the title game. Chris Ayotte (Sr., Cornwall, Ontario) was also named to the all-tournament team following his third power-play goal of the weekend Monday afternoon.

The Vikings went on the offensive early in the contest when they had a 5-on-3 situation for 1:14 in the opening two minutes.Zach Josepher (Sr., Wantagh, N.Y.), Chris Brown (Sr., Centreville, Ontario), and McConney kept Lawrence at bay for all but five seconds of the two-skater advantage, as the scoreboard remained blank.

The Lakers scored the first of four power-play goals at 7:55 in the first. Brown fed Nick Rivait (So., Kingsville, Ontario) at the blue line. Rivait’s shot was blocked, but landed on the tape of Chris Muise‘s (Sr., Oakville, Ontario) stick for the open net.

Just over five minutes later, Denton King (Fr., Pense, Saskatchewan) created an offensive opportunity for Oswego State when he sent a no-look pass from the net along the board into the slot with hopes of finding an open player. David Titanic(Jr., Markham, Ontario) pounced on the shot as he hustled off the bench for his third goal of the year.

Oswego State was not done scoring in the first period, though, as Chris Ayotte lit the lamp with another one-timed blast for the circle at 16:37 to put the Lakers ahead 3-0 at the break after out-shooting the visitors, 17-6.

Lawrence started the second period with increased intensity resulting in a pair of Viking goals to make the score, 3-2. Phil Bushbacher put the visitors on the scoreboard at 7:36 in the stanza, while William Thoren cut the deficit in half on a power-play slap shot off a faceoff with 1:04 left in the period.

The Lakers responded right away in the third period when McConney scored his first goal of the game 19 seconds into an Oswego State power play with a slap shot that found its way through traffic at the 1:19 mark. Jon Whitelaw (Sr., Huntsville, Ontario) and Paul Rodrigues (Sr., Etobicoke, Ontario) earned assists on the play.

Minutes later, the Oswego State power play struck again when Tyler Leimbrock (Sr., Bolton, Ontario) dove for a puck that was sliding through the crease from Muise and Brown. Leimbrock got enough of his stick on the puck to send it past Lawrence goalie Fabian Sivnert to make the score, 5-2.

McConney scored his second goal at 14:19 with another shot from the blue line after receiving a series of passes from Whitelaw and Taylor Farris (Sr., Oakville, Ontario). Oswego State’s final goal came with 2:23 remaining in the game following RJay Berra‘s (So., Prince George, British Columbia) second marker of the season with an assist going to McConney.

Oswego State ended the game with a 42-21 advantage in shots on goal, while going 4-for-9 on the power play as Andrew Hare (Sr., Burlington, Ontario) registered 19 saves. Lawrence went 1-for-6 with the extra attacker as Sivnert finished the contest with 35 saves.

Joining McConney and Ayotte on the all-tournament team were Lawrence’s Fabian Sivnert and Brad Scurfield, Castleton State’s Brian Greene, and Plymouth State’s Zach Fox.

Oswego State opens 2013 with a pair of road games at Elmira on Friday and Utica on Saturday.