BRIDGEPORT, Conn.— A late comeback by the Sacred Heart men's hockey team wasn't enough as Canisius skated away with a 6-5 victory on Saturday afternoon at Webster Bank Arena. The Pioneers (10-15-5, 8-13-3 AHA) added two late extra attacker goals but were unable catch first place, Golden Griffins (16-10-7, 15-4-6 AHA) in the series finale. 

Sacred Heart had five scorers on the night with seniors Jordan Minello, Jeff Carroll Erlich Doerksen and sophomore Liam Clare and freshman Austin McIlmurrary. Minello netted his team leading 15th goal of the season setting a career single-season high. Carroll, Minello and McIlmurray all recorded one goal and one assist. Freshman Ruslan Rakhmatov recorded his first career playmaker with three assists on the night.

After a scoreless first period, senior Justin Danforth stole the puck in the Canisius zone and found Minello wide open to give SHU the 1-0 lead at 4:41. The Golden Griffins didn't falter as they scored three goals in a two-minute span halfway through the second period. Nolan Sheeran started the rally with the wrist shot from the feed by David Bennett. Felix Chamberland added the strike at 10:08 stealing the puck from the SHU defender. Jimmy Mazza fired in the slap shot from the point on the feed from Dylan McLaughlin at 11:14 to give the Griff the 3-1 edge. Carroll ended the Griffs run with a power play strike at 13:38 as he put back the shot by Vito Bavaro at 13:38. Cameron Heath came through the SHU zone with the deke and slipped past sophomore Brett Magnus at 15:16 in the second to bring the game to 4-2.

The scoring frenzy extended into the third period as McLaughlin pushed the Canisius lead to 5-2 at 7:00 as he fired one from the middle of the slot and deflected off a Pioneer defender for the score. McIlmurray nabbed the second power play goal for SHU on the backhanded shot from the feed by Rakhmatov at 13:25 in the third. The Pioneers continued to rally as Clare scored the extra attacker goal at 18:48 in the third to bring the score to 5-4.  Jesse Pereira recorded the empty net goal at 19:22 to stretch the game to 6-4. Doerksen fired home another extra attacker goal from the point on the lead pass from Rakhmatov at 19:47 to bring the Pioneers within one. The Griffs would ice the final face off to keep the final score at 6-5. 

Sacred Heart outshot Canisius 42-31 on the night. The Pioneers went 2-for-5 on the man advantage, while the Griffins went 1-for-6. Magnus recorded 25 saves in goal for SHU, Williams 37 shots for Canisius.

The Pioneers will face off against Bentley next weekend with a home-and-home series starting at the John A. Ryan Arena on Friday Feb. 17 at 7:00pm.