Three things from the past weekend in Atlantic Hockey:
History repeats
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Canisius and Army play a two game series, with the Golden Griffins coming out on top in Game One. In 2012 it was a 5-1 victory over the Black Knights on Friday. In 2013 the score was 8-2. This past Friday it was a 6-3 win with Canisius coming back from a 3-0 first period deficit.
Each time, Saturday was a different story, or the same story depending on how you look at it. Last Saturday at West Point, Army responded with a 3-0 win over the Griffs earning a series split. Last year, it was a 1-0 win for the Black Knights. In 2012 the score was also 1-0.
A Canisius win in the first contest following by an Army shutout in Game Two. Three times in a row.
Army goaltender Parker Gahagen stopped all 28 shots he faced on Saturday.
“It was good to get that first shutout off my shoulders,” he said after the game. “It was a good team win for us.”
“I liked our effort tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We had really good push by our top players but their goalie played well. We did a lot of things well but the puck just didn’t bounce our way tonight.”
Unlike the past two seasons, the teams will play four times this time around. Canisius will host Army at HarborCenter on Feb. 13 and 14.
History doesn’t repeat
Much has been made of the slow start defending champions Robert Morris endured last season before going on an epic run to emerge victorious.
The Colonials are making sure this season gets off to a different start entirely, sweeping Niagara this past weekend to open the season 4-0 for just the second time in school history.
Both nights Robert Morris scored three third period goals to put the game away. RMU has outscored opponents 9-1 in the final period so far this season.
“We’ve had a good start,” said Colonials coach Derek Schooley. “But you’ve got to stay consistently focused every weekend. We’ve had two good weekends and now we’re going to have to put that behind us.”
All’s quiet at the pumpkin convention
Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena was again a sea of orange as Rochester Institute of Technology again sold out the building (10,556) for its annual Brick City homecoming game. But RIT’s opponent, No. 7 Boston College, spoiled the party by opening up a 4-0 lead early in the second period and coasting to a 6-2 win.
It wasn’t until Todd Skirving’s goal at 1:06 of the third that the large crowd had something to cheer about.
“We couldn’t get any offense,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson after the game. “There was no excitement on the bench at all. They didn’t allow us to get our fans into it. Their defense controlled our forwards.”
Four different BC blueliners scored in the game, in three of the cases as the trailer on an odd-man rush. ”They discouraged us,” said Wilson. “They took away scoring chances and then scored goals themselves. They were a double threat.”
The Tigers will go from Eagles to Falcons as they travel to Air Force next weekend.
