Canisius headed into the Thanksgiving weekend with the hottest defense in the land before Army knocked the stuffing out of the Golden Griffins.
Erik Sefchik had two goals and two assists in Army's 11-goal weekend.
The Black Knights piled up 11 goals in two nights, an offensive explosion that is rare on the banks of the Hudson River. Army posted a 4-1 win on Friday night, snapping a six-game unbeaten streak by the Griffins, and followed that with a 7-2 triumph on Saturday.
“That’s a great weekend,’’ said Army coach Brian Riley. “I knew this was going to be a tough task for us with Canisius coming in here. They are a real good hockey team. I felt they had opportunities but we just seemed to get some bounces.’’
The Black Knights (5-8-2) got steady goaltending from Jay Clark (29 saves on Friday, 31 on Saturday), and found a way to distribute the scoring. Fourteen players produced points and seven tallied goals on the weekend.
“At the beginning of the year we started off slow (1-6-2) and I think we were trying to find our team identity,’’ said Army sophomore defenseman Marcel Alvarez. “I think we found it, starting last weekend (eight goals in a split at Bentley) and we built on it this weekend.’’
Army has scored 19 goals over the last four games, moving to fourth in league scoring (2.8 per game). The outburst came once Riley shook up his forward combinations after scoring just twice in a set at Rochester Institute of Technology and getting blanked by American International.
Freshman Andy Starczewski was moved to the top line with center Eric Sefchik and winger Cody Omilusik. Center Mike Hull found himself with two new partners in all-star Owen Meyer and Bryant Skarda.
“We have some guys who can score,’’ Riley said. “Hopefully what this does is gives these guys confidence. We were really kind of pressing a few weeks ago. We have some guys who can put the puck in the net and the last two weekends it has been coming together.’’
Said Sefchik: “I think guys are just getting to the net. We have been getting a lot of goals in the dirty areas, and that’s the difference. Before we were looking from the perimeter area and nothing was really going our way. We started getting some dirty goals and that spurred other things.’’
Canisius (7-8-1) entered this weekend with three consecutive shutouts over Connecticut (1-0) and American International (7-0, 4-0). Dan Morrison was given the nod in net by coach Dave Smith to keep the streak alive.
Owen Meyer’s goal at 5:27 of the second period on Friday – on a hard-driving charge to the net – put an end to Canisius’ record streak of 213 minutes, 12 seconds, the sixth-longest mark in NCAA Division I history. Bill Day made it 2-0 some five minutes later. Cory Conacher halved the lead early in the third period but Army got goals from Joey Ammon and Cody Omilusik (empty netter) for the win.
Clark said he enjoyed the challenge of facing Morrison.
“I was looking at his stats and saying, ‘Man, he has to be doing something right,’’’ Clark said. “There was a little extra pressure. … I was feeling it out, seeing what kind of goalie he is. Those are fun, though. I would rather play those games (when) there’s a goalie on the other net who is going to bring out the best in you. That’s when it’s fun.’’
Smith said the setbacks should drive a point home to his team.
“We have a lot of work to do if we want to be in the upper echelon in this league,’’ Smith said. “We need to fix the simple things with our game.’’
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
Lakers building momentum: Mercyhurst followed a four-game losing skid with consecutive sweeps of Holy Cross (5-1, 4-1) and on the road at American International (8-2, 2-0). Brandon Coccimiglio’s two goals led seven goal scorers and 16 point producers in the Friday victory at AIC. Jesse Echternach and Patrick Goebel scored on Saturday. Ryan Zapolski turned aside 33 shots on Friday and 36 shots on Saturday for his fifth career shutout, earning Atlantic Hockey goalie of the week honors.
Volkening back on track: Air Force senior goalie Andrew Volkening allowed just nine goals in seven league games (five on the road), earning the Atlantic Hockey goalie of the month award for November. Volkening posted his 12th and 13th career shutouts, and his streak of 182 consecutive minutes was the third-longest of his career. The Falcons are 4-0-3 in his last seven starts, the third-longest active unbeaten streak in NCAA Division I.
Not a lost trip to Troy: Bentley earned a shootout victory over Lake Superior State in the consolation game of the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament after the teams played to a 2-2 draw through 65 minutes (the game goes in the books as a tie). RPI built a 4-0 lead through 33 minutes and handed Bentley a 5-2 loss in the opening round.
Huskies hurting: Connecticut (2-10-2) is struggling on both sides of the ice. The Huskies dropped a 5-0 game at Holy Cross on Tuesday, and followed that with an 8-1 beating at Brown on Saturday. The Huskies have lost three in a row and are winless in their last six (0-4-2). UConn has scored four goals in the last five games, and no Husky has surpassed eight points through 14 games. The Huskies have allowed six-or-more goals on four occasions. The eight goals allowed is the worst defensive showing since Yale posted a 9-1 win on Jan. 2, 2008.
Two is the tragic number: Canisius has allowed two first-period goals in seven of its eight losses this season.
Giving up the points: Atlantic Hockey teams are 4-32-3 against non-conference foes this season. The league breakdown: vs. ECAC 3-13-2; vs. CCHA 1-9-1; vs. Hockey East 0-5; vs. CHA 0-4; vs. WCHA 0-1.
