A week after facing the last-place team in Atlantic Hockey, the Canisius College hockey team faced the defending league champions to close out their six-game homestand last Sunday and Monday. After losing the first game against the Falcons on Sunday 3-0, the Griffs, led by the goaltending of senior Dan Morrison, bounced back with a gritty effort that ended up in a 1-1 tie the next night.

Morrison got the start in net for Canisius in the rematch Monday night after backing up sophomore Tony Capobianco for the previous three games. The time off from between the pipes did not make Morrison rusty as he looked like his usual self, making key saves to keep his team in the game. He got a little help as Canisius got on the board first.

After receiving a pass from junior Torrey Lindsay, sophomore Ben Danford skated the puck around the Air Force zone, patiently hanging on to it before passing it to freshman Cody Freeman. After Freeman's attempt was blocked, freshman Braeden Rigney took the rebound and put it into the net for his second goal of the season.

Canisius would take the 1-0 lead into the first intermission despite being outshot 11-5 in the period, with six of those 11 Air Force shots coming on the power play. The penalty kill was strong throughout the game and was able to stave off a 5-on-3 Air Force power play in the middle of the second period. However, the Falcons were able to find the equalizer as a wrist shot from the point beat a screened Morrison. The Griffs were only able to muster three shots in the period.

The pace of the game really picked up in the third period, with both teams having great chances to take the lead. Less than four minutes into the period, Danford was stopped point blank by Air Force goaltender Jason Torf. Sophomores Kyle Gibbons and Patrick Sullivan were also foiled on their respective attempts.

Air Force got three opportunities with the power play in the period, including a late power play with about three and a half minutes to go. But once again, Morrison and the penalty kill were able to shut the door.

Just like the first meeting between the teams on Oct. 29, the game headed to overtime. Only a minute and a half into the extra period, Air Force once again was awarded with a power play, but couldn't get a shot on Morrison, who finished with 32 saves.

The old adage goes that a team's best penalty-killer is the goaltender, and Morrison was no exception, making 14 saves while his team was short handed. Morrison pointed out their success to getting in shot lanes and blocking shots, as well as contributions in the faceoff circle.

"Hats off to Braeden Rigney, he won every single draw," Morrison said. "It's hard to generate anything when we keep winning the draws so kudos to our PK and we'll try to build off of that."

In addition to scoring Canisius' lone goal, Rigney was dominant in the circle, going 18-7, winning 72 percent.

"It's been fun to watch him grow as a hockey player," head coach Dave Smith said of Rigney. "He's got terrific mobility and terrific understanding of what's going on out there defensively and really takes pride in the faceoff circle and it's a big part of the game. I would say he's as good as anybody in the league in the faceoff circle."

Smith called the effort "the best penalty kill we've had all year."

The kill bounced back from a rough outing in the first game against the Falcons, where the visitors scored twice on four opportunities on their way to a 3-0 win. Both of the power play goals were scored in the second period where the Falcons registered only three shots on the Canisius net. Capobianco made 24 saves in the loss.

Another factor in the 1-1 tie was a different lineup where freshman Carl Larsson, sophomore Duncan McKellar and junior captain Preston Shupe were scratched in favor of freshmen Matthew Grazen, Tyler Wiseman and Stephen Farrell.

"The freshmen need to play to develop," Smith said. "There's a sense of urgency and a pressure to perform. Sometimes if a guy doesn't play well and there's healthy guys waiting, we're just looking to get the guys with a lot of energy [into the game]. There were a lot of battles and a lot of energy spent in both games. To have those fresher guys made a difference."

Two of the Griffs' three games against Air Force have ended in ties, which, according to Morrison, says a lot about how well Canisius (8-14-4, 8-8-3 AHA) can play against the top teams.