Zach Vitlip scored twice in the first period, and West Virginia University beat Canisius University 3-1 on Friday night at Northtown Center at Amherst in its season opener. Savva Serdiuk made 34 saves on 35 shots for the win as the Mountaineers handed Canisius its first loss of the season.
Vitlip opened the scoring unassisted with 16:09 left in the first period. He doubled the lead with 11:59 left in the frame, finishing a play set up by Tommy Woods and Caden Glamkowski for what stood as the game-winning goal.
Jacob Hollander made it 3-0 with 4:12 left in the second period, with Thomas Carron picking up the assist. Each team had one power play, Jake Redell for roughing in the first period and Carron for tripping in the second, but neither side converted.
Canisius outshot West Virginia 35-30 and got on the board with 12:17 left in the third period, when Cameron Coogan scored unassisted. Coogan entered the night with one goal in two games. Xavier Lapierre made 27 saves on 30 shots for Canisius.
West Virginia moves to 1-0-0, while Canisius falls to 2-1-0 as both teams look to build on their early-season starts.
