SAULT STE. MARIE - Lake Superior State fended off a Canisius comeback to win 5-4 Friday at the Taffy Abel Arena during Game 1 of a non-conference hockey series, which is part of Great Lake State Weekend.

Goals from Tyson Hobbins and John Scrymgeour during the opening nine minutes of the first period and Brad Cooper at 1:53 of the second period carried the Lakers to a 3-0 lead. Canisius (1-2) answered with three straight goals from Cory Conacher to tie the game 3-3 with four minutes to go in second period.

Freshman forward Domenic Monardo scored 56 seconds into the thrid period to give the Lakers (2-1) a 4-3 edge. It was his first goal as a Laker, but one of four points he had for the night. Canisius answered at 7:11 of the third with a goal from Ryan Klusendorf to tie the game, 4-4. At the 7:53 mark of the third, Cooper scored his second goal of the night and what proved to be the game-winner.

Scrymgeour and Monardo both had one goal and three assists for the night. Cooper totaled three points with two goals and one assist.

Junior goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson totaled 17 saves. Lake Superior State outshot Canisius, 43-21.

As part of GLSW festivities, LSSU paid tribute to four alumni award winners and had a moment of silence for Shirley (Patton) Mancuso, a former LSSU Department of Athletics secretary and long-time Soo BlueLiner who lost her battle with cancer in August. LSSU will honor LSSU Sports Hall of Fame inductees Bill Crawford and Chuck Jones during Saturday's contest.

The Lakers play host to Canisius tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m.

Lake Superior State University vs. Canisius College