WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Sophomore Alex Murray (Burlington, Ont.) stopped 33 shots to help lead American International College to their third consecutive victory as they defeated Canisius College, 3-1, in Atlantic Hockey Conference ice hockey action this evening from the Olympia Ice Center.
The Yellow Jackets improve to 5-13-0 on the year and 5-8-0 in conference play while the Griffins fall to 5-13-1 overall and 5-7-1 in Atlantic Hockey action.
After a scoreless first period the Golden Griffins wasted little time grabbing the 1-0 edge in the middle frame as senior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) tipped in junior Shane Conacher's (Burlington, Ont.) wrister from the left point at 1:15.
AIC then stood tall killing off a lengthy 5-on-3 power play five minutes later and used that momentum to turn up the pressure in the offensive zone leading to the equalizer from freshman Marc Dubeau (St. Lina, Alb.) who knocked home classmate Trevor Cope's (White Lake, Mich.) initial bid at 16:25.
The Jackets then tilted the score in their favor heading into the second intermission as sophomore Jackson Dudley (Edmonton, Alb.) raced up the right wall to collect a pass from junior Austin Orszulak (Springfield, Mass.) and the second-year right-wing worked his way to the slot and fired glove side for the 2-1 edge at 19:00.
The Yellow Jackets then gained insurance as sophomore Bryant Christian (Moorhead, Minn.) collected a crazy bounce of the stanchion by the end boards on a dump in from senior Chris Porter (Stoufville, Ont.) and was able to beat sophomore Reilly Turner (Temiscaming, Quebec) who was caught out of the net for the 3-1 score at4:32 of the third.
AIC then played great defense down the stretch killing off a pair of hooking penalties and outlasting 2:50 of a 6-on-5 as Canisius opted for the empty net.
Murray improved to 5-8-0 on the year with the victory while Turner dropped to 4-10-0 with the loss after making 16 saves on the night.
AIC was outshot 34-19 for the night while neither side was able to convert with the man-advantage as the Jackets killed off all five penalties they committed with the visitors stopped the one power-play for the hosts.
Both teams conclude their season series tomorrow afternoon with a 3:05 p.m. puck-drop.
