Canisius College head coach Brian Cavanaugh picked up his 300th career victory Friday night as the Golden Griffins routed visiting Bentley 9-2 at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.
Senior David Deeves handed out four assists, while classmate Jeff Street scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Griffs to the victory.
Canisius (3-2-0, 2-1-0 MAAC) opened the scoring at the 3:47 mark of the first period as sophomore Rob Martin (Pickering, Ont.) scored his team-high seventh goal of the season.
Bentley (1-6-0, 1-2-0) tied the game less than six minutes later on a goal by Mike Mulligan. Canisius would gain the 2-1 advantage before the first intermission, however, as senior Corey Lucas notched his third of the year with 1:21 remaining.
The Falcons knotted the score at 2-2 at the 4:06 mark of the second period as Andy Peters beat Canisius keeper Sean Weaver, but Canisius ran away the remainder of the game with seven unanswered goals to seal the victory.
Street scored the eventual game-winner, just 32 seconds after Peters’ goal, to give the Griffs a 3-2 lead.
Senior Chris Duggan lit the lamp on a breakaway at the 9:09 mark, followed by a tally by freshman Fred Coccimiglio to give Canisius a 5-2 advantage. Duggan’s second goal at the 11:21 mark chased Bentley goalie Simon St. Pierre to the bench in favor of Kevin Williams.
Street added his second of the night at the 5:03 mark of the third and junior Tom Wnuk scored his second of the year from the point just under a minute later for the 8-2 lead.
Coccimiglio added his second tally of the game with 3:02 remaining to seal Cavanaugh’s 300th.
Weaver finished with 19 saves in the victory for the Griffs, while St. Pierre stopped 22 in over 30 minutes of action while taking the loss for Bentley. Williams turned away 20 shots in relief of St. Pierre.
