Griffs Rally Past IUPUI

by Canisius College Athletics
September 2, 2012
Behind two goals in the final 7:27, the Canisius College men's soccer team continued its best start in 36 seasons, earning a 2-1 victory against IUPUI at the 38th Panther Invitational in Milwaukee. The Griffs remain unbeaten on the season with a 2-0-2 record, while the Jaguars drop to 1-3-0.

"I'm very proud of the way our team played for the entire weekend," said Canisius head coach Dermot McGrane. "We possessed the ball extremely well and deserved the win. We also showed a great deal of character and fight to answer their score immediately with goals of our own."

Sophomore Asani Samuels and senior Gavin Falconer led the Canisius rally by each scoring in the closing minutes of the contest. The duo plus sophomore Denver Spearman were each named to the Panther Invitational All-Tournament Team.

Senior Kareem Gray recorded six saves to earn the victory in net.

Despite controlling possession in the first 80 minutes of the contest, the Griffs failed to find the back of the net. Canisius owned a 23-8 advantage in shots but could not get the ball past the IUPUI goaltender as the game headed into the final 10 minutes of play scoreless.

It was the Jaguars (1-3-0) who struck first in the contest, taking advantage of Canisius' aggressiveness by scoring on a counter attack. Ian Block netted his second goal of the season with 8:15 remaining in regulation for the 1-0 lead.

Canisius wasted no time in answering back with Samuels scoring his second goal of the season just 48 seconds later. The sophomore forward finished from close range after a deflection to knot the game at one with 7:27 remaining. Spearman registered his second assist of the weekend on the game-tying tally.

The Griffs continued to pressure the IUPUI defense after tying the contest and were rewarded for their efforts after senior Regan Steele was fouled in the box. Falconer converted the penalty kick with 3:09 remaining in the contest for the game-winning goal.

Canisius finished the contest with an overall shot advantage of 27-10 and had six corner kicks to three for IUPUI. Eduardo Cortes recorded six stops in net for the Jaguars.

The Griffs return home for a matchup with Western Michigan on Thursday. Game time at the Demske Sports Complex is set for 7 p.m.

Game Notes: Host Milwaukee took the tournament title by virtue of a better goal differential during the weekend (+3, compared to +2 for the Griffs) ... It marks the third time in the program's history that Canisius has started a season unbeaten after four games. The 1976 team was also 2-0-2, while the Griffs were 3-0-1 after four contests in 1972 (both teams would lose their fifth game) ... Three of Falconer's five career goals are game-winning tallies. All three of the game winners were either in overtime or in the last five minutes of regulation ... Canisius was meeting IUPUI for the first time in the program's history.

 

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