Canisius Hockey Wins Third Straight

February 27, 2004

Courtesy of Canisius Sports Information Department

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Junior James LeCuyer tallied his first goal of the season and added two assists as Canisius College scored a 4-2 victory over American International College Friday night at the Buffalo State Ice Arena. The Golden Griffins improve to 8-13-8 overall, 8-9-4 in Atlantic Hockey. American International falls to 4-22-3 overall, 3-15-3 in the league.

The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring 12:27 into the first period on an unassisted goal by Andy Walbert. Walbert made several nice moves and beat junior goaltender Bryan Worosz on the stick side giving American International a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

Canisius evened the score 2:55 into the second period as senior Rob Martin skated into the slot and went five-hole to beat Yellow Jacket goaltender Frank Novello for his eighth goal of the season. LeCuyer and freshman Michael Cohen assisted on the goal.

The Griffs took the lead less than three minutes later as Martin took a pass from senior Daryl Pierce and left the puck for LeCuyer, who fired a shot from just inside the blue line and beat Novello high on the stick side. The Yellow Jackets knotted the score just over four minutes later as John Levesque found the back of the net on a low shot on the stick side making the score 2-2 after 40 minutes of play.

Canisius took the lead for good as junior Todd Bowler took a pass from LeCuyer and went high on the glove side for his fourth goal of the season. Sophomore Tim Songin also assisted on the go-ahead goal. The Griffs added to their lead on a power-play goal by freshman Billy Irish-Baker with 6:08 remaining in the game. Cohen skated behind the net and made a quick pass out front for Irish-Baker, who went low on the stick side to make the score 4-2. Bowler also assisted on the goal.

The Griffs out-shot the Yellow Jackets 46-17. Worosz recorded 15 saves and Novello, who left the game after two periods, had 32 saves. Matt Tourville recorded 10 third-period saves in his first career loss.

Canisius and AIC return to the ice Saturday night for a 7 p.m. rematch at the Buffalo State Ice Arena as the Griffs look for a season sweep of the Yellow Jackets.

# GoGriffs.com#