Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
7-19-2, 7-15-2AHC
Canisius
13-10-7, 12-6-6AHC
Hockey Falls at Canisius
February 14, 2015 | Hockey
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Canisius scored two unanswered goals in the final two periods and handed the Army hockey team a 3-1 defeat on Saturday night at the HarborCenter.
Army (7-19-2, 7-15-2 AHA) saw C.J. Reuschlein score his second goal in as many games with assists to Tyler Pham and Conor Andrle. For Pham it was his team-leading 17th of the season, while Andrle keeps pace with his 12th helper of the year. Gahagen made 24 stops for the second game in a row, including 11 in the middle frame.
Canisius (13-10-7, 11-6-6 AHA) salvaged the split after Army won last night. The Griffs were led by Ralph Cuddemi, who recorded two points on a goal and assist. Shane Conacher scored for the second-straight night and Tyler Wiseman added the insurance goal in the third period. Keegan Asmundson made 17 saves for the winners and came up with key stops in the third period when it was a one-goal game.
The Griffs took the first lead of the game with 5:35 left in the first period. The Black Knights had a great 3-on-1 chance down in Canisius’ end, but Esmundson kicked it aside. The Griffs countered and Conacher scored on a tip in from Logan Roe on a 3-on-1 of their own to give the home team the first advantage. There were not a lot of shots in the first period with teams combining for 13 with five coming from Army.
Army knotted the game 4:42 into the middle frame with Reuschlein scoring his eighth of the year and second in as many nights. Pham had his pass attempt blocked from behind the net and Reuschlein swooped in and collected the puck. He spun around and fired a wrister past the glove to make it 1-1.
The Black Knights were called for contact to the head for five minutes and Army came six seconds away from killing it off. After great efforts from Nick DeCenzo and Shane Hearn, the Griffs found an opening and Cuddemi netted his 18th of the year. Matthew Grazen slipped a pass to Cuddemi and he wasted no time putting it in the net to regain the lead at 2-1 with 5:01 left in the frame.
The Griffins added to their lead midway through the third period with Wiseman skating out front of Gahagen and tapping in the third goal for Canisius. Army got caught up ice on a 2-on-0 chance and paid for it. Mitch McCrank found Wiseman in front and the goal looked very similar to Cuddemi’s tally in the second period. Army had two power plays down the stretch, but couldn’t get the puck past Asmundson.
Canisius earned the advantage in shots by a 27-18 margin and scored once on the power play on five chances, while Army was 0-for-6 with the extra skater.
The Black Knights are back in action next weekend at Tate Rink for the first time since taking on RMC on Jan. 24. Both contests are set for 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Tonight’s game was the 49th meeting between Army and Canisius since 1992 … Canisius regains the all-time series lead at 23-22-4 … it was Army’s third game on television this season after a pair at RIT … Army ended its season-long five-game road trip with wins over RIT and Canisius and a 2-3 record … Reuschlein scored two of the three goals this weekend and has eight this season … Pham finished with three points in the two games.
