Seconds away from its third win of the season, the Clarkson University Hockey team saw it slip away as Canisius College tied the contest with 13.8 seconds left in regulation and then gain the victory with senior Spencer Churchill’s goal at 3:46 of overtime as the Golden Griffins pulled out the 4-3 non-league victory before 2,245 fans at Cheel Arena.
Canisius, which snapped a two-game losing streak, becomes the first Atlantic Hockey team to earn a victory at 18-year-old Cheel Arena. The Golden Griffins improve to 6-5-2 overall. Clarkson, which suffered its sixth straight loss, falls to 2-7-2 overall. Clarkson and Canisius will play again on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
Churchill picked up a loose puck along the boards in the Clarkson zone after it deflected off the skate of an official and broke in alone, firing a shot past the Knights’ freshman goaltender Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) for the game-winner. Freshman Adam Brace and junior Peter MacDougall assisted.
Canisius forced the extra session in the final seconds of the third. With their goaltender pulled for the extra skater, the Golden Griffins swarmed the Clarkson net and junior Jason Weeks scored during a scramble in front for his second goal of the year.
Clarkson had taken its only lead of the game with a pair of goals 1:50 apart early in the third period. Junior Matt Beca (Mississauga, ONT) scored on the power play 67 seconds into the period for his third goal of the year. Junior Shea Guthrie (Carleton Place, ONT) assisted. At 2:57, sophomore Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT) deflected in a shot from the point by junior defenseman Jeremiah Crowe (Lancaster, NY) for his second goal of the season, putting the Green and Gold on top 3-2.
Clarkson controlled the flow of the play in the first period, holding a 12-5 advantage in shots, but a string of penalties caught up to the Knights when Canisius connected on its third man-advantage opportunity of the stanza to grab the early lead. Sophomore Brandon Cummings gathered in a rebound at the top of the crease and lifted in his third goal of the season at 16:25. Brace and Weeks assisted.
Clarkson tied it up less than three minutes later with a power-play tally from sophomore defenseman Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) at 19:13. Rufenach took a pass at the blueline from Freeman and skated to the top of the left circle where he fired in a low wrist shot through traffic for his second goal of the year. Freshman Julien Cayer (Longueuil, QUE), playing for the first time in five games after recovering from an injury, also assisted.
The Golden Griffins took a 2-1 lead in the second period when Cumming finished off a warp-around attempt by senior John Patera at 7:57. Sophomore Vincent Scarsella also assisted. The Knights kept it a one-goal when they killed off a five-minute Canisius power play midway through the frame.
Clarkson went 2-of-4 on the power play, while Canisius was 1-of-8 with the man-advantage. The Knights held a 25-24 shot advantage. Karpowich posted 20 saves, while junior Andrew Loewen made 22 stops for the Golden Griffins.
