The Canisius College hockey team scored four early goals but was unable to hold onto its lead as the Griffs and Robert Morris battled to a 5-5 draw on Tuesday. Canisius is now 8-9-2 on the season, while the Colonials are 3-10-3.
"We are playing good team offense right now," said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. "We are just not playing good team defense consistently. If we want to succeed in league play, we must improve the consistency of our team defense."
Senior defender Carl Hudson matched a career high with three points on the night, scoring a power play tally and adding two assists. Hudson's power play goal was the 23rd of his career, breaking the program's Division I record. The senior also registered a point in his seventh-consecutive game, breaking the school mark held by a defenseman.
Juniors Chris Forsman, Vincent Scarsella and Matt Zuke plus freshman Preston Shupe also added a goal for the Griffs.
Senior Andrew Loewen stopped a season-high 40 shots to earn the draw.
Robert Morris struck first when Scott Kobialko scored just 47 seconds into the contest, but the first period was dominated by Canisius. Forsman tallied his first goal of the season at the 6:29 mark to knot the game at one. Freshman Steven Shafer won a draw back to the junior and Forsman sent a shot past the Colonials' goaltender for the score.
Canisius then added two goals in an 18-second span to grab the lead. Hudson netted the first goal with his record-breaking power-play score. Scarsella and senior Josh Heidinger both registered assists on the goal. Zuke then tallied his third goal in as many games to give Canisius a 3-1 advantage. Junior Phil Rauch and sophomore Scott Moser both tallied an assist on Zuke's goal.
Scarsella then added his seventh goal of the season at the 16:38 mark of the first period, scoring on the power play to stretch Canisius' advantage to 4-1. Hudson fired a shot toward goal but after the Robert Morris goalie made the save, Scarsella cleaned up the rebound for the score. Junior Cory Conacher also recorded an assist on the tally.
Canisius' fortunes started to turn in the second period. While on the power play, the Griffs won a defensive zone faceoff but the puck hit a Canisius defender in front of the goal and found the back of the net. The Colonials then cut the deficit to one with a power play score when Chris Kushneriuk cleaned up a rebound.
The Griffs reclaimed its two-goal lead with 10:55 left in regulation when Shupe scored the team's third power-play goal of the night. Shupe got behind the Robert Morris defense and Hudson found the freshman on a long pass. Shupe then skated in and beat the Colonials' goalie for his second goal of the season. Senior Dave Cianfrini also registered an assist on the score.
The Colonials, however, would score two goals in a 50-second span to knot the game at five. Furman South pulled Robert Morris to within one, scoring on a 5-on-3 power play with 4:47 left in the game. Nathan Longpre then tied the game when he got past the Canisius defense and beat Loewen high for his eighth goal of the season.
Both teams had opportunities in the overtime to win the game but neither team could find the back of the net. Canisius had four shots on goal in the extra frame, while Loewen turned away all five shots he faced to keep the score tied.
"Tonight was disappointing," Heidinger said. "They came out strong in the first shift but we took over after that. We felt like we had them but then we came out flat in the second. We rebounded but they just kept fighting. It is a very disappointing outcome for us."
Canisius scored three power-play goals in 10 opportunities, while Robert Morris was 2-for-7 with the extra-man advantage. The Colonials had a slight advantage in shots, 45-42. Brooks Ostergard started the game and made six saves, while Eric Levine played the last 55-plus minutes, recording 31 stops.
The Griffs wrap up non-conference play on Sunday, hosting Colgate at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. Game time is slated for 5:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Tuesday's game can be seen on Time Warner SportsNet on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and on Thursday at 8 p.m. ... Hudson last totaled three points in a game on Nov. 3, 2006 against Holy Cross ... Hudson shared the power play goal record with Michael Cohen, who netted 22 extra-man scores from 2003 to 2007 ... Hudson shared the record for consecutive games with a point by a defender with Daryl Pierce, who also registered a point in six-straight games in January 2003 ... Hudson now ranks fifth nationally among defenders with 1.00 point per game ... Conacher also extended his career-best point streak to seven ... Canisius scored three power play goals for the second time this season.
