Barton Nets Third Goal in 1-1 Tie with Canisius
Boxscore
BUFFALO, NY – The Merrimack hockey team battled the
Canisius College Griffs to a 1-1 tie Sunday afternoon at the
Buffalo State Sports Arena.
Merrimack scored early as Chris Barton (Calgary,
Alberta) notched his team-best third of the season taking
feeds from Joe Cucci (Melrose Park, IL) and
Rob Ricci (Brampton, Ontario) on the power play at
3:09 of the first period. The assist was Ricci's first of the
season as the captain was in the lineup for his second game of the
season after missing the first three with an injury.
After a scoreless second period, the Griffs evened the score early
in the third after Carter Hudson ripped one past Joe
Cannata (Wakefield, MA) on the power-play. The goal was
the first Cannata surrendered in his first 101:09 as a Warrior, as
he stopped the first 55 shots he faced.
The Warriors dominated play following Hudson's goal but
point-blank shots from Francois Ouimet (Lorraine,
Quebec) and Grant Farrell (Calgary,
Alberta) were gloved by goaltender Andrew Loewen with six
minutes to play in regulation. After the Warriors failed on a late
power-play, Cannata came up big as he stopped a three-on-two break
with a sprawling block save. End-to-end action continued as Ouimet
had two more scoring chances that were denied by Loewen. Ouimet led
the Warriors with seven shots on goal.
With the Griffs on a power play for the final 42 seconds of
overtime, Cannata stopped two shots to preserve the tie. Merrimack
was outshot 5-0 in the extra frame.
Cannata turned aside 22 shots, giving him 66 saves on 67 shots in
his first two collegiate games.
Loewen kept the Griffs in the game as he stopped 29 shots. The
Warriors controlled the play for the majority of their two games at
Niagara and Canisius this weekend, but they managed to just get one
goal on 61 shots.
Merrimack (2-2-1, 0-1 HEA) begins a home-and-home series with the
defending National Champion Boston College on Thursday at 7 p.m. at
Conte Forum, with the teams moving to Lawler Arena on Friday at 7
p.m.
