Golden Griffins Falls in Season Opener

Courtesy of Canisius Sports Information

St. Cloud, Minn. - The Canisius College ice hockey team opened its 10th season of Division I hockey, falling to the 17th-ranked team in the country, St. Cloud State, in front of 6,051 fans. The nationally-ranked Huskies overpowered the Griffs for a 7-0 victory.

"We are trying to build the identity of our team and we are trying to find our identity at a high level," said Canisius College head coach Dave Smith. "We came to raise our level of play. Even though we lost 7-0, we got better as the game progressed and I thought we played pretty well in the second period."

Senior Mike Hartman and freshman Garrett Roe led the Huskies with three points each on two goals and an assist. Sophomore Andrew Loewen (right) faced a barrage of shots and made a number of great saves, stopping 37 shots in total.

The Griffs best scoring opportunity came during a first-period power play when Vincent Amigone's shot ringed off the post. Sophomore Jase Weslosky recorded 20 saves in goal for the Huskies to earn the shutout.

"I thought our team speed against a very fast opponent was exceptional," said Smith. "We can get up-and-down the ice and I think that was the biggest positive."

The Griffs wrap up the two-game set at St. Cloud State, tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET.

Game Notes: Six Griffs made their collegiate debut against St. Cloud State (Brandon Cummings, Derek Danowski, Scott Jenks, Pat Kenney, Eric Rex and Vincent Scarsella) ... Sophomore Ryan Klusendorf played in his first game since October 28, 2005 ... Klusendorf has missed most of the last two seasons due to injury ... The Griffs and Huskies were meeting for the first time in the two school's history ... Canisius was playing a member of the WCHA for the first time since the Dec. 17 & 18, 2004 against North Dakota ... Canisius fell to 8-16-4 all-time in season openers, including 2-6-2 in Division I ... It was the first time that Canisius opened the season against a ranked opponent since the 2002-03 campaign, when the Griffs faced No. 13 North Dakota ... The Huskies outshot Canisius, 44-20 ... St. Cloud State went 3-of-7 on the power play, while killing all six of the Griffs power-play attempts.