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Canisius University Athletics

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Matt McLeod skates during game action at LECOM Harborcenter
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3
Canisius CAN 8-11-2, 5-9-1 AHA
6
Winner Mercyhurst MER-M 11-11-2, 9-6-1 AHA
Canisius CAN
8-11-2, 5-9-1 AHA
3
Final
6
Mercyhurst MER-M
11-11-2, 9-6-1 AHA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 1 1 1 3
Mercyhurst MER-M 0 3 3 6

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Second-Period Surge Sinks Hockey at Mercyhurst

Mercyhurst scored five unanswered goals to erase a two-goal deficit and pull away from Canisius in a 6-3 victory in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday at the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa.
 
Trailing by a 2-0 margin late in the second period, the Lakers (10-11-2, 8-6-1 AHA) used goals from Jonny Lazarus, Joseph Duszak and Jeremy Wu in a 5:44 span to take a 3-2 lead into the third.
 
Mercyhurst then tallied two goals in the opening 3:50 of the final frame to build a 5-2 cushion before junior Matt Hoover scored at the 5:47 mark to pull the Golden Griffins (8-11-2, 5-9-1 AHA) within two, 5-3.
 
That would as close as Canisius would get, however, as Mercyhurst added a goal in the final two minutes to put the game out of reach.
 
Lazarus sparked the game-changing spurt with a power-play goal at the 13:16 mark of the middle period, putting home a loose puck for his first of the campaign to pull the Lakers within one, 2-1.
 
Duszak tied the game at 2-2 a little less than four minutes later, getting behind the Canisius defense and beating Griffs goaltender Matt Ladd for his 10th of the campaign.
 
Wu closed out the second-period salvo with one minute to play in the frame when his wrist shot from the point found its way through traffic and into the Canisius net to give Mercyhurst a 3-2 lead.
 
Duszak netted his second of the contest just 35 seconds into the third to make it a 4-2 contest before Whittaker got on the board a little more than three minutes later with a power-play goal to stretch the Laker lead to 5-2.
 
Hoover gave the Griffs life just moments later with his fifth of the campaign to trim the deficit to 5-3, but Joshua Lammon capped a four-point night when he scored from close range with 1:58 remaining to extinguish any hopes of a Canisius comeback
 
Earlier in the contest, senior Dylan McLaughlin gave the Griffs a 1-0 lead at the 16:21 mark of the opening frame, deflecting a point shot from senior Ian Edmondson for his team-leading 13th goal of the campaign.
 
Senior Matt McLeod doubled the Griffs lead to 2-0 at the 8:47 mark of the second period, getting behind the Lakers defense before putting a backhanded effort past goaltender Garrett Metcalf for his first of the campaign, setting the stage for the Mercyhurst comeback.  
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"We took too many penalties during the second period. When Mercyhurst came back and made it a 3-2 contest, they absolutely deserved to be in the lead and we deserved to be trailing. We have some things we need to work on. One of those things is we need to play together more. We need individuals to step up in terms of leadership and playing together. We were ready to compete going into the third period and a senior takes a poor penalty and they score on the power play right away and next thing we know we're chasing the game again and that's not a recipe for success.
 
"The bulk of our room has a huge belief in what we're doing and where we're going. This is a weekend where we didn't have our best performance in either game. We didn't play the way we're capable of. We know that. We'll address it, evaluate it and re-attack. It might be easy for some teams to get frustrated in terms of a result, but the fact of the matter is, we need to play games and learn. This weekend is a step back for sure, especially with how we played the last couple of weeks in non-conference play. We take a look at everything from this weekend and then get ready for Robert Morris."
 
Game Notes
• Mercyhurst increased its lead in the Division I era of the series to 32-28-9 with Saturday's victory. The win was also the Lakers fifth in the last seven matchups against the Golden Griffins.
• Canisius held a 32-30 shot advantage for the contest, highlighted by a 15-8 margin in the third.
• Mercyhurst was 2-for-5 with the power play while Canisius was 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
• Canisius moved to 2-5-1 in 2018-19 when scoring the first goal of the contest.
• McLeod recorded multiple points in a game for the first time this season and fourth in his career as he finished with a goal and an assist.
• Edmondson tallied multiple points in a game for the second time this season and fifth time in his career as he recorded two assists in the contest.
• Canisius defensemen accounted for four of the Griffs' six assists in the contest.
 
Up Next
• Canisius begins a four-game homestand next weekend when it welcomes Atlantic Hockey foe Robert Morris to Harborcenter for a two-game series.
• The Griffs and Colonials will open their weekend series with a 7:35 p.m. contest on Jan. 18 before the two teams get together for the finale the following day at 4:35 p.m.
• Tickets for both games are still available. They can be purchased by calling 716-888-TIXX or by visiting the tickets page on GoGriffs.com.
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