On the 20th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, the Canisius College Ice Griffs produced their own version of a miracle. Led by netminder Sean Weaver, they defeated the heavily-favored Niagara Purple Eagles, 2-1, at the Dunn Tire Hockey Challenge in front of a sellout crowd of 1,480.

"It is something that you talk about all summer long, about [the potential of] beating Niagara," said Canisius head coach Brian Cavanaugh. "They are pushing for national-championship potential in the sense of being in the Dance. Our kids worked hard. I am proud of them and I am happy for them."

"Any loss this time of year hurts," Niagara head coach Blaise MacDonald stated. "There is no question that this is a monumental win for Canisius. Their goaltender was clearly, clearly the difference."

Indeed Weaver was, as he faced 59 shots, making 58 saves and keeping the Ice Griffs in the game. Niagara continuously threw everything at him, but "the Wall" stood his ground and shut the door on repeated scoring opportunities.

"I had a feeling I would see a lot of shots tonight so I was just trying to come in as focused as I could be and concentrate on the game at hand," Weaver said. "The hockey gods must have been on my side because we were getting a lot of good bounces in our own end. I guess when luck is on your side, the puck goes your way."

Niagara set the tone of the game early as they began to test Weaver within the opening minute. The play was contained mainly in the Ice Griffs' zone until Canisius sophomore David Deeves initiated a play almost halfway through the period. He fed Brad Kenny along the boards, who shoveled the puck out front to an incoming Todd Houston. Houston let his shot go and it eluded Niagara netminder Greg Gardner for the 1-0 lead.

"It [the goal] got us off to the right start," Houston said. "We got some confidence off of that. They had put the pressure on us the first ten minutes, and after putting the goal in, it gave us some comfort."

Canisius' comfort zone was extended to 2-0 at 13:22 of the second period. Ice Griff defenseman Tom Wnuk's pass got lost in teammate Matt Shewchuk's skates as he was tied up with Chris MacKenzie. The puck deflected off MacKenzie's skate and slowly made its way across the goal line as Gardner was trapped out of position.

"We will take a goal like that every single time," Shewchuk noted.

Niagara continued to chip away at Weaver in hopes of finding the back of the net, and they held a 34-13 edge in shots at the end of forty minutes.

The break finally came at 8:40 of the third period when Jon Marshall deposited a backhand into the net, closing the gap 2-1. The Purple Eagles had an opportunity to tie the game in the last five minutes as Canisius was issued two consecutive minor penalties. However, sharp play by Weaver that allowed the Ice Griffs to hold on to the end and walk away with the victory.

"Everyone is just so happy," Houston stated. "I am happy we did it for coach [Cavanaugh] and for all the guys. Weaver played amazing, just outstanding. He kept us in there."

"It is just unbelievable," Shewchuk said. "I still can't fathom that we won right now. It is good for our confidence going into the playoffs, and beating Niagara just shows what we can do."

The victory improves Canisius' overall record to 17-9-4 overall and drops Niagara to 26-7-3. Canisius will face Bentley this weekend as they look to solidify home ice for the first round of the MAAC playoffs.

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