"I thought it was an excellent hockey game," said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. "Sacred Heart is playing very well and very confident and I thought we matched that. It came down to a couple little things like a puck slipping through or not slipping through in our case tonight."

Junior Matt Zuke and freshman Ben Parker each scored for the Griffs.

Sophomore Dan Morrison recorded 30 saves in net to anchor the Canisius defense.

The Griffs opened the scoring when Zuke netted his fourth goal of the season 11:06 into the contest. Sophomore Dave Kostuch sent a back-handed shot toward the goal and Zuke tipped it in to give Canisius the early advantage. Freshman Torrey Lindsay also registered an assist on the goal.

The Pioneers would draw even, scoring with two minutes remaining in the first period. Sacred Heart took advantage of a 2-on-1 break when Patrick Knowlton fed Nick Johnson for the game-tying score.

Sacred Heart took its first lead of the evening 3:45 into the second stanza. Erik Boisvert scored his seventh goal of the season, back-handing a shot from the slot for the lone goal of the period.

After a number of near misses by Canisius, the Pioneers extended their lead to two with 8:21 left in regulation. Anthony Yelovich corralled a loose puck near the net and snuck it past Morrison for the 3-1 advantage.

Canisius quickly answered back just 48 seconds later as Parker netted his second goal of the season. The freshman dumped the puck in off the boards and the puck hit the corner board and then deflected off the Sacred Heart goalie and into the back of the net. Junior Phil Rauch registerd an assist on the score.

Sacred Heart secured the victory when Johnson tallied his second goal of the game on an empty net with 25 seconds remaining.

Canisius fired 38 shots on goal, including 17 in the third period, to 34 for Sacred Heart. Steven Legatto recorded 36 saves to earn the victory for the Pioneers.

Neither team was able to score on the power play with Canisius missing on two chances and Sacred Heart going scoreless in one opportunity.

The two schools wrap up the two-game series tomorrow night. Game time at the Milford Ice Pavilion is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Game Notes: Sacred Heart is now 7-0-1 in its last eight games ... The Griffs are 0-7-1 in their last eight games at Sacred Heart ... Zuke has scored a goal in four of his last seven games after totaling one goal in his first 55 career contests ... Junior Cory Conacher had his career-best 12-game streak of registering a point snapped.