Erie, Pa. – (Canisius Media Release) The Canisius College hockey team won game one of a best-of-three Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal series, defeating Mercyhurst, 5-1, on Friday night. The Griffs move to within one win of reaching the conference semifinals for the first time since 2004.
“I don’t think the score was indicative of the play tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We got some fortunate bounces and Mercyhurst played really hard. We did enough to get the victory.”
Senior Josh Heidinger (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the Griffs with three points, scoring two goals and adding an assist. Classmate Carl Hudson (Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario) and freshmen Torrey Lindsay (Grosse Isle, Manitoba) and Preston Shupe (Weyburn, Saskatchewan) rounded out the scoring with a goal each.
Sophomore Dan Morrison (London, Ontario) anchored the Canisius defense with 41 saves, including 24 in the third period, to earn the victory.
“I had a lot of confidence before the game because I had a good warm up and a good pre-game skate,” Morrison said. “The defense kept the shots to the outside for the most part and we did a good job of keeping them to one shot. We were coming off a tough weekend against RIT but came back with two good weeks of practice. It’s nice to win game one and now we have a chance to advance tomorrow.”
The freshman duo of Lindsay and Shupe scored 32 seconds apart early in the first period to give the Griffs a lead it would not relinquish. Lindsay opened the scoring with his first collegiate goal 5:10 into the contest. The freshman sent the puck in from the neutral zone and it took an awkward bounce and into the back of the net. Hudson and junior Matt Zuke (St. Louis, Mo.) each registered an assist on the game-opening goal.
A loose puck in front of the net resulted in Shupe’s ninth score of the season just 32 seconds later. Juniors Cory Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) and Vincent Scarsella (Lackawanna, N.Y.) each posted an assist on the goal that gave the Griffs an early 2-0 lead.
Canisius (16-14-5) stretched its advantage to three when Heidinger buried his 10th goal of the season at the 6:40 mark of the second period. With a one-man advantage, Heidinger sent a wrist shot in from the point for the 3-0 lead. Scarsella and Conacher added assists on the power-play goal.
Hudson gave the Griffs a 4-1 lead with his 14th goal of the season 10:18 into the third period. With a two-man advantage, the senior fired a shot in off a pass from Heidinger to give Canisius a commanding 4-0 advantage. Conacher also posted an assist on Hudson’s 11th power-play goal of the season.
Mercyhurst (15-19-3) would score with 5:26 left in the contest when Scott Pitt netted a goal with the goaltender pulled and on a power play to cut the Laker deficit to three, 4-1. Heidinger sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 3:55 remaining in the contest. Sophomore Scott Moser (Tonawanda, N.Y.) and freshman Ben Parker (Port Perry, Ontario) each registered an assist on the game-clinching goal.
The Lakers outshot the Griffs, 42-26, on the evening, including a 25-5 edge in the third period. Canisius was 2-for-5 on the power play, while killing 9-of-10 Mercyhurst extra-man advantages.
Game two of the best-of-three series is set for tomorrow night. Game time at the Mercyhurst Ice Center is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Canisius entered the game with a 0-4 record against the Lakers in Division I postseason meetings … The Griffs have won three-straight games at Mercyhurst for the first time in the series history … Conacher is the first Griff to record 50 points in a single season and now has 52 on the season … Hudson tied the program’s Division I single-season record for assists by a defenseman … Hudson now has 20 helpers this season, matching Derek Gilham’s record (1998-99) … Hudson has scored 31 of his 44 career goals on the power play (70.5 percent) … Canisius has scored on eight of its last nine 5-on-3 power plays that lasted at least 10 seconds.
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