Canisius Shuts Out Air Force 4-0
Canisius goaltender Tony Capobianco made 24 saves as Canisius beat Air Force, 4-0, in an Atlantic Hockey Association game, Friday, Feb. 14, at the Buffalo State Sports Arena in Buffalo, N.Y. Air Force’s three-game winning streak ended as the Falcons fell to 17-10-4 overall and 12-7-3 in the AHA. Canisius improved to 11-15-3 overall and 10-9-3 in the conference. Air Force remains in a tie for third place with UConn with 27 points. Canisius is still in seventh place with 23 points.
Canisius jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the first period. The Griffs opened the scoring just 2:41 into the game as Patrick Sullivan scored on Ben Danford’s centering pass. Air Force did not have a shot on goal for the first 5:30 of the game. The Griffs took a 2-0 lead on a breakaway goal by Mitch McCrank at 12:51. Taylor Law poked a puck through the neutral zone to McCrank who skated in uncontested on Falcon goalie Chris Truehl.
The Griffs held on to the 2-0 lead until late in the third period. Air Force had more shots on goal in the third period (13) than in the first two periods combined (11), but could not beat Capobianco. With under four minutes remaining, Law took a pass from Chris Rumble and skated down the left side. Law made a move to get Truehl to the ice and then flipped the puck over the goaltender for a 3-0 lead with 3:10 remaining. Late in the third period, Air Force pulled its goalie with 1:18 left and Shane Conacher scored an empty-netter with 59 seconds left to make the final score, 4-0.
Canisius outshot Air Force, 26-24, in the game. Truehl made 22 saves for the Falcons. AFA was 0-for-4 on the power play while Canisius was 0-for-2.
“They out-hustled and out-determined us tonight,” head coach Frank Serratore said. “Give them credit, they were pitching and we were catching. We were better in third and we battled, but when you get down 2-0 you better have some fight in the third. We have traditionally been a good road team, but we have not played well in our last three road games and that makes me sick. We better things out in a hurry. If things don’t change tomorrow, we will be in trouble again.”
Air Force and Canisius conclude the two-game league series on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 7:05 p.m. ET at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.
AFA Communications
