Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Canisius College scored a pair of goals 31 seconds apart with just over six minutes left in regulation, then tacked on an empty-net goal in the closing seconds, to knock off the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team 4-2 on Saturday night at the Buffalo State Ice Arena. The loss dropped the Lakers to 11-10-1 overall and 9-6-0 in the Atlantic Hockey Association standings. Meanwhile, the Golden Griffins improved to 9-11-5 overall and 8-6-2 in conference play.

The Lakers led 2-1 after two periods of play on Saturday night and held a 9-0-1 record when leading after forty minutes entering the contest. However, the Golden Griffins got goals from Stephen Miller at the 13:14 mark and Matthew Grazen at 13:45 to drop the Lakers into a tie for fifth-place in the bunched-up conference standings.

Niagara leads the standings with 30 points and appears to be running away from the pack. But then, things get very interesting. Holy Cross is second with 20 points, followed by Air Force and Bentley, which have 19 points apiece. Mercyhurst and Canisius are tied for fifth with 18 points. Army is seventh with 17, while Connecticut and RIT have 16 apiece. Robert Morris is in tenth place with 15 points, but just five points out of second. (Note: Robert Morris was trailing Air Force 2-1 entering the third period in Colorado).

After a scoreless first period that saw Mercyhurst outshoot Canisius 12-7, the Lakers struck first at the 3:26 mark of the second period to take a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Matthew Zay, who has been on a tear as of late, scored his eighth goal of the season. Sophomore Ryan Misiak and freshman Anthony Mastrodicasa picked up the assists on Zay's fourth goal in the last four games. Zay has one goal in four straight games and now has a six-game point-scoring streak.

Mastrodicasa, who missed the last 14 games with an injury, picked up his first collegiate point with his helper.

Canisius tied the contest at 1-1 with a power play goal by Ralph Cuddemi at the 16:35 mark of the second period. Cuddemi's first goal of the season was assisted by Chris Rumble and Kyle Gibbons.

But, the Lakers would respond just 1:29 later when Misiak buried his eighth goal of the season past Canisius netminder Tony Capobianco, giving the Lakers a 2-1 lead after two periods. Sophomore Grant Gettinger and senior goaltender Max Strang had the assists.

Misiak finished his rookie season a year ago with six goals and 13 assists for 19 points in 36 games. He has surpassed all three categories this season with eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points. He leads the team in assists and points. Gettinger has also surpassed his total from a year ago and now has six points this season. Strang, meanwhile, leads the country in assists by a goaltender this season with four.

Mercyhurst was outshot in the second period 16-7.

That set the stage for Canisius' heroics in the third period. Miller scored his third of the season from Doug Jessey and Doug Beck to tie the game at 2-2 with 6:46 left in regulation. Grazen then gave Canisius its first lead of the night just 31 seconds later with his sixth goal of the year. Gibbons and Duncan McKellar had the assists.

Preston Shupe would add an empty-net goal with 14 seconds left to seal the victory for Canisius. Torrey Lindsay and Logan Roe had the assists.

The Lakers outshot the Golden Griffins 12-6 in the third period and held a 31-29 shot advantage for the game. Strang suffered the loss, dropping to 8-5-0 on the season. He turned aside 25 shots in just his third loss of the season in conference action. Meanwhile, Strang's counterpart, Capobianco, stopped 29 shots for the win. He improved to 8-11-4 on the season.

Canisius went 1-for-2 on the power play while Mercyhurst, which entered with the second-best power play unit in the country, went 0-for-3.

The two teams will meet for the final time during the regular season on Tuesday, January 29 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. The game is a makeup date from Friday's scheduled contest, which was postponed due to the water main break that led to the shutdown of the Mercyhurst campus. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.