BUFFALO, New York - The eighth-seeded American International College ice hockey team fell to second-seeded Canisius College, 8-1, in Game One of a best-of-three Atlantic Hockey Championship Tournament quarterfinal on Friday, March 9.

FAST FACTS:
Final score: AIC 1, Canisius 8 (Canisius leads series, 1-0)
Records: AIC moves to 14-19-4 overall; Canisius is now 18-15-2.
Location: KeyBank Rink at HARBORCENTER (Buffalo, New York)

STATS LEADERS:
AIC:
Blake Christensen (one goal)
Andrew DeBrincat (one assist)
Nicolas Luka (one assist)
Joel Kocur (seven shots on goal)

Canisius:
Daniel Urbani (34 saves)
Dylan McLaughlin (two goals, one assist)
Nick Hutchison (three assists)
Matt McLeod (two goals)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• AIC found itself in a 3-0 deficit after one period off goals from Matt McLeod, Felix Chamberlain and Dylan McLaughlin.
• A lopsided second period had AIC with a 13-5 advantage in shots on goal during the frame, but Canisius still had an advantage by the end of the period. The Golden Griffins made it 4-0 just 27 seconds into the second period; AIC went on to out-attempt Canisius 36-11 in the frame, hitting multiple posts about four-and-a-half minutes into the period before sophomore left wing Blake Christensen finally got AIC on the board at 5:41.
• Matt Hoover made it 5-1 in favor of the Griffs with 7:48 to go in the second period.
• With sophomore goaltender Zackarias Skog playing the third period, Jimmy Mazza made it a 6-1 game with an early power-play tally.
• AIC had a 5-on-3 advantage with about nine minutes to go, but the Yellow Jackets came up unlucky, including another hit post from Christensen. Canisius added two more goals to close out the game with an 8-1 score.

BUZZWORTHY:

• Christensen is now on a three-game point streak, with two goals and three assists in that span.
• Junior center Shawn McBride won nine of his 16 faceoff attempts; he has now won the majority of his faceoff attempts in each of the past seven games.
• Sophomore center Joel Kocur had seven shots on goal in the contest, a single-game career best for Kocur.

COACH'S CORNER:

• "It certainly got us off track," said AIC head coach Eric Lang about the early deficit. "At the end of the day, they're an elite team with elite skill, and when we started to chase the game, I thought we got really out of sorts. When you're down three-zip, you start doing things where you get out of character, you start thinking, how do you get to 3-3, instead of just staying with the process."
• "I do think that our guys didn't quit, so there's a positive," Lang added. "I thought our guys competed right till the end."

NEXT UP:

• AIC will look to keep its season alive in Game Two of the series against Canisius, with puck drop set for 8:05 p.m.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow @AIC_Hockey on Twitter and Instagram, and like American International College Ice Hockey on Facebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow @AICAthletics on Twitter and Instagram, and like AIC Yellow Jackets on Facebook.