BUFFALO, N.Y.-Junior right wing Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ont.) had a hat trick for the Canisius Golden Griffins as the American International College hockey team tied at the HarborCenter, 4-4, in Atlantic Hockey Conference play.

AIC moves to 2-10-3 overall and 2-5-3 in the AHC.

The Jackets wasted no time in building a huge lead in the first period as they drew an early-period power play and effected a quick passing play from behind the net to in front, with senior right wing Jason Popek (Hamilton, Ont.) finishing with passes from sophomore right wing David Norris (Calgary, Alb.) and junior left wing Chris Porter (Stoufville, Ont.) for his second of the year at 4:56.

Then, sophomore left wing Austin Orszulak (Springfield, Mass.) passed the puck up the left side to Norris, who pushed the puck past a defenseman to break in and snapped a shot through the five-hole at 8:33 to make it 2-0.

Senior left wing Matt Cassidy (London, Ont.) and freshman center Bryant Christian (Moorhead, Minn.) extended the lead on a two-on-one with a give-and-go, as Christian finished for his second of the year at 11:22.

Just over two minutes later, while shorthanded, Orszulak and Cassidy came in on another two-on-one after Orszulak stole the puck at AIC's blue line and this time the senior got to finish, scoring his first at 13:42; it was the first time since November 8, 2013 in an 8-6 win over the Bentley Falcons that AIC had scored four in a period. The goal also chased rookie Reilly Turner (Temiscaming, Que.) from the game.

Canisius did get a power play goal back at 14:09, with a tip in front by freshman center Jeff Murray (Newmarket, Ont.), his first career goal.

In the second, Canisius's sophomore left wing Shane Conacher (Burlington, Ont.) had a grade-A opportunity to score on a rebound in the slot, but sophomore goalkeeper Hunter Leisner (Garland, Texas) made an astounding save, diving across to his left to glove the shot and keep his team up three.

However, Canisius did get one back at 17:40 as Cuddemi jammed a rebound in shortly after an AIC power play expired for his seventh of the season.

The Griffs then cut it to 4-3 in the third early on, winning an offensive zone draw and setting up a one-timer by Cuddemi for his eighth of the year at 0:36.

Cuddemi finished the hat trick on another great faceoff play, driving the puck forward at 9:27 for his ninth of the year.

Neither team was able to score from there, as Leisner and senior goalkeeper Keegan Asmundson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) kept the goals clean through the end of regulation and overtime. Leisner had 39 saves overall to move to 0-4-1 on the year, and Asmundson stopped all 17 in 51:18 of play to go to 2-4-3. Turner had six saves in 13:42, remaining at 4-2-2.

The Jackets close out the first half at home for a weekend AHC series with the Bentley Falcons starting a week from today. The Olympia Ice Center hosts on Saturday, December 13 at 7:05 p.m and Sunday, December 14 at 2:05 p.m.