BUFFALO – Canisius scored three times in the first period and senior Charles Williams stopped all 32 shots he faced as the Griffs extended the nation’s longest active unbeaten streak to 15 games with a 4-0 victory over Mercyhurst in Atlantic Hockey Conference action Thursday at KeyBank Rink at HARBORCENTER.
Junior Ryan Schmelzer and sophomores Alex Jaeckle and Cameron Heath scored in the first period while freshman Jesse Pereira added an insurance marker in the second for Canisius (19-10-7, 18-4-6 AHC), who finished the regular season with 42 points, three ahead of second-place Air Force, who still has two regular season games left to play.
Williams made the most of the early cushion, turning aside 12 shots in the first period and 10 tries from the Lakers in both the second and third to post his school-record fifth shutout of the season. Williams also set a school mark for wins in a season with his 19th victory between the pipes.
Jaeckle opened the scoring just 4:17 into the contest when he fired a slap shot from the right point through a screen and past Mercyhurst keeper Brandon WIldung to give Canisius the early advantage.
Schmelzer doubled the Griffs’ cushion to 2-0 a little more than three minutes later, completing a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with a one-timer from the bottom of the slot during a Canisius power play.
Heath capped the first period barrage with 1:16 to play in the opening frame when his wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle beat Wildung glove side to make it a 3-0 contest.
Pereira increased the Canisius cushion to 4-0 at the 7:40 mark of the second period, beating Lakers backup netminder Colin DeAugustine blocker side from close range.
Wildung got the start in goal for the Lakers (12-17-4, 11-12-4 AHC), making seven saves in the first period before being replaced by DeAugustine at the start of the second. DeAugustine played the final 40 minutes in goal for Mercyhurst, turning aside 34-of-35 shots faced.
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