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Canisius University Athletics

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Wareham_Blake action vs UND 1-4-19
www.tomwolf.smugmug.com
1
North Dakota UND 9-9-1
2
Winner Canisius CAN 8-9-2
North Dakota UND
9-9-1
1
Final
2
Canisius CAN
8-9-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
North Dakota UND 1 0 0 1
Canisius CAN 1 0 1 2

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Completes Sweep of North Dakota with 2-1 Victory

Freshman goaltender Matt Ladd recorded 48 saves and sophomore Grant Meyer provided the game-winning goal 1:29 into the third period to guide Canisius to a 2-1 victory over No. 13 North Dakota in collegiate men's hockey action Saturday at KeyBank Rink at Harborcenter.
 
Senior Felix Chamberland also scored for the Golden Griffins (8-9-2), who earned a sweep of their final non-conference series of the season with the one-goal victory.
 
Making just his second start after joining Canisius at the semester break, Ladd stopped the final 32 shots he faced as he recorded his first collegiate victory.
 
Nick Jones accounted for the lone goal for the Fighting Hawks (9-9-1), who out-shot Canisius by a 49-16 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 23-2 edge in the first period.
 
With the scored tied at 1-1 after two periods for the second night in a row, Meyer authored the game-winning goal with an unassisted effort less than two minutes into the third when he collected a loose puck on the right side and used a shot fake to freeze North Dakota goaltender Adam Scheel while driving to the net before sliding the puck between his legs for his fourth of the season.
 
The Fighting Hawks pushed for the equalizer but were unable to solve Ladd, who turned aside all 16 shots he faced in the final frame, including four while North Dakota was on the power play midway through the period, to secure the victory.
 
Earlier in the contest, Jones opened the scoring at the 15:12 mark of the first period with a power-play tally, jamming home his own rebound from just in front of the Canisius cage to give North Dakota a 1-0 lead.
 
Chamberland answered for Canisius exactly two minutes later, finishing off a backdoor feed from fellow senior Matt McLeod for his first of the campaign to knot the score at 1-1 and set the stage for another exciting finish.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"It's a huge moment for Canisius and for our hockey program. It happens to be our time to make some noise on the national stage and I could not be prouder or happier of the effort our team displayed tonight.
 
"We've been talking a lot about attitude and effort lately. It continued from last night and carried into tonight's contest. It was a different game from last night in that we took their best punches early. Last night, they seemed to be pushing really late. They came out the way we thought they would tonight. We took those punches early, settled down, got the lead late and I thought we did a great job of staying the aggressor and weathering their storm when we had to.
 
"Obviously, Matt Ladd was a huge part of the win tonight. He was spectacular. It was his first home game and just his second collegiate game, all within the span of a week. He was our best player tonight by a mile. He was extremely calm and poised at times where maybe some players would not be. He had a special performance tonight and we're super excited for him."
 
Game Notes
• Canisius picked up a two-game sweep of a nationally-ranked opponent for the second consecutive season as it recorded a home-and-home sweep of then No. 20 Niagara last December.
• Saturday's win moved the Griffs to 5-5-1 against nationally-ranked competition under Large.
• Canisius also moved to 5-5-1 this season when allowing the first goal of the contest.
• The 49 shots taken by North Dakota on Saturday were a season high for a Canisius opponent and the most allowed by the Griffs since Penn State attempted 47 in a 4-2 win on Oct. 29, 2016.  
• North Dakota was 1-for-4 on the power play while Canisius was 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
• Chamberland became the 16th different Canisius player to score a goal this season with his first-period tally.
• Junior Matt Stief recorded his 10th assist of the season on Chamberland's first-period goal, making him the fourth different Canisius player to reach the double-digit plateau for assists this season.
• Ladd became the third different Canisius goaltender to record his first collegiate victory during the 2018-19 season, joining junior Blake Weyrick and sophomore Tucker Weppner.
 
Up Next
• Canisius returns to league play next weekend when it squares off against long-time rival Mercyhurst in a home-and-home series.
• The Griffs host the Lakers in the front half of the series Jan. 11 in a 7:35 p.m. puck drop at Harborcenter before the series shifts the following day to the Mercyhurst Ice Center for a 7 p.m. contest.
• Tickets for Friday's game are still available. They can be purchased by visiting the tickets page on GoGriffs.com or by calling 716-888-TIXX.
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