Holy Cross rookie Fred Coccimiglio netted the tying goal early in the third period, and the Crusaders skated to a 3-3 tie with the homestanding Canisius Golden Griffons Saturday night at the Buffalo State Sports Arena in front of 247 fans.
Canisius wasted little time getting on the board in the first period as sophomore Rob Martin scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season just 17 seconds into the game. Senior David Deeves assisted on the goal, his 10th assist of the season and 100th point of his career at Canisius.
The Griffs took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but Holy Cross knotted the game at 1-1 just 47 seconds into the second on a power-play goal by Jeff Dams.
The Crusaders opened a 2-1 advantage at the 15:32 mark on another power-play goal, this time by Greg Kealey.
Canisius tied the game at two goals apiece less than two minutes later on a goal by senior Todd Houston. Holy Cross scored the final goal of the period, however, with 1:06 remaining as Canisius’ Steve Birch gave up the puck in the Canisius zone and Mark Spiers punched in the shorthanded goal to give Holy Cross a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Coccimiglio scored the game-tying goal 2:25 into the third period, his fourth of the season.
Canisius goalie Sean Weaver stopped 23 shots in the 65 minutes of play, while his Holy Cross counterpart Rick Massey turned away 40 shots.
