“I thought Manhattan played very well tonight and I thought we played nervous,” said Canisius head coach Dermot McGrane. “It’s the opening game of the MAAC season and we played a little too cautious. I am pleased with the way we defended and we’re becoming much harder to score on lately.”

Senior Ryan Arvin anchored the Griffs’ defensive effort with five saves on the night to record his third shutout of the season and fourth of his career.

After a scoreless first half, Canisius came out of the break and had a couple of near misses. Just less than two minutes into the stanza, junior Denver Speraman headed a ball toward goal that got past the Manhattan goalkeeper but a Jasper defender cleared it off the line. Just five minutes later, junior Asani Samuels had his shot sail just over the crossbar after a number of moves to get past the defense.

Arvin was then called upon to make a couple of saves to keep the clean sheet. The senior stopped Manhattan’s Tommy Amos in the 63rd minute and also had a nice save in the overtime.

For the contest, Manhattan (0-7-1) held a slight edge in shots, 17-16, and a 10-4 advantage in corner kicks. Alex Coates McDowall recorded seven saves for the Jaspers.

Canisius continues MAAC play on Wednesday, traveling to Marist. Game time is set for 1 p.m.