Irish-Baker Scores OT Winner in Canisius 3-2 Victory over Sacred Heart

February 21, 2004

Courtesy of Canisius Sports Information Department

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Freshman Billy Irish-Baker scored two goals including the

game-winner 1:24 into overtime to give Canisius College a 3-2 victory over Sacred Heart University Saturday night at the Buffalo State Ice Arena. Irish-Baker took a pass from junior Todd Bowler on a two-on-one and beat Sacred Heart goaltender Kevin LaPointe high on the glove side for the game-winning goal, his ninth of the season.

The Golden Griffins improve to 7-13-8 overall, 7-9-4 in Atlantic Hockey. Sacred Heart sees their seven-game win streak snapped and falls to 11-15-3, 11-7-2 in Atlantic Hockey.

After a scoreless first period, Sacred Heart opened the scoring 4:46 into the second period as Peter Ferraro deflected a shot by Noel Henck into the net, to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. The Griffs responded less than four minutes later as Irish-Baker skated around the net into the slot and fired a shot high on the stick side to knot the game at 1-1 after 40 minutes of play.

The Griffs took the 2-1 lead as freshman Michael Cohen went five-hole off a rebound 7:07 into the third period for his 10th goal of the season. Junior Josh Zavitz and freshman David Kasch assisted on the goal. The Pioneers tied the game with 53 seconds remaining as Marc-Andre Fournier tipped in a Bernie Chmiel shot, to send the game into overtime and set the stage for Irish-Baker’s heroics.

Canisius out-shot Sacred Heart 33-19 and LaPointe tallied 30 saves for the night, while junior Bryan Worosz had 17 saves in the win for the Griffs. Canisius is 6-0-0 all-time against Sacred Heart in Buffalo, N.Y.

Canisius returns to action next weekend as it hosts American International Feb. 27 and 28 at the Buffalo State Ice Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m. both nights.

# GoGriffs.com#