Timon falls to Canisius

A five-goal second period was all Canisius would need as they cruised to an 8-1 victory over Bishop Timon-St. Jude Monday night in the semifinals of the Federation Catholic playoffs.

Canisius got on the board first with 23 seconds remaining in the first period. Timon’s Justin LaRusch won the draw back to the corner boards. Joe Mitchell of Canisius picked up the loose puck and then fired a quick shot that beat Dan Fulton.

The goal seemed to take the life out of Timon as they came out flat in the first five minutes of the second.

That’s when Canisius would go on to score three goals in the first four minutes of the period to put the game away.

Timon showed a little life in the third as Mike Griffin broke the shutout by beating Dylan Arnold with a nice shot to the glove side. Griffin could have had a couple more goals as he hit the post and crossbar in the third as well.

Despite letting in eight goals, Fulton kept his boys in the game – especially in the first period. Timon came out flat in the first and Fulton was there to save their bacon on a number of occasions.

If it wasn’t for Fulton, the game might have gotten out of hand earlier.

Canisius now moves on to the Catholic final where they will face St. Francis at 8 p.m. Sunday at HSBC Arena.

St. Francis 4, St. Joe’s 1

Look who crashed the party.

With rumors swirling around that St. Francis will be kicked out of the league after the season, the Red Raiders made a strong statement that they belong by beating St. Joe’s to advance to their first title game since the 1998-99 season.

That season, St. Francis won the title with a 9-0 win over Timon.

The Red Raiders broke open a close game with two goals in the second period, and then hung on for the win.

Curran McNamara played well in net for St. Francis.

During the regular season, Canisius won the only meeting between the two clubs.