Same Setup, Different Outcome As Fabiilli, Griffs Blank Warriors

Saturday, October 16, 1999
by Jennifer Kasprzak

Buffalo, NY -- The scenario was much the same as the previous night as Canisius headed into the third period with a two-goal lead. However, with steady goaltending, the outcome was different as the Ice Griffs skated to a 3-0 victory. Junior goaltender Steve Fabiilli, in his first game back after pulling a hamstring, recorded his first shutout of the season, turning away 30 shots.

"The guys played great in front of me," noted Fabiilli. "I saw most of the shots and a lot of the saves were not very difficult."

The scoring began 3:30 into the first period. Canisius defenseman Tom Wnuk rifled a shot from the point. With a crowd of players in front of the net, Wayne State goaltender David Guerrera couldn't make the save, putting the Ice Griffs ahead 1-0. Paul DiPasquale and Corey Lucas were credited with the assists.

In the second period, Canisius extended its lead to 2-0. Seth Wiener broke up the Warriors' play within the Canisius zone. Wiener and teammate Steve Birch proceeded to charge down the ice on a two-man breakaway. Wiener fell as he skated into Wayne State territory and shoveled the puck over to Birch who proceeded to shoot it by Guerrera.

The game was put away at 9:11 of the third period. Canisius freshman Jeff Jurek stole the puck from the Warriors' defenseman and headed to the net on a breakaway. Jurek carried the puck to the right side of Guerrera and quickly pulled it to his left and slid a backhander by the scrambling netminder for his third goal of the season. Rob Othmann was credited with an assist.

The rest of the period was filled with penalties handed out to both teams as the play got more aggressive. This included a five-minute major and a game misconduct issued to Wayne State's Jon Brink who hit Ice Griff Matt Shewchuk from behind along the boards. Despite the penalty, the Warriors were able to stifle the Griffs' power play, just as they had all night.

"We have been working a lot on our penalty killing lately," said Warrior center David Peca. "Coach [Bill Wilkinson] is pretty much a genius when it comes to the penalty kill, and it is one of our top priorities in practice."

Even though Canisius' power play was shut down, the Ice Griffs' felt they had a better attitude going into the bout. "We felt positive coming into this game," stated Jurek. "We knew we played tough yesterday and that we struggled to the end, but we also knew today would be a whole new game."

With the victory, the Ice Griffs record stands at 1-0-1, while the Warriors fall to 0-2-1. The three starts were awarded to Fabiilli, Wnuk, and Birch.

Jennifer Kasprzak is a MAAC game reporter for U.S. College Hockey Online and sports editor for the Canisius Griffin.