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Defenseman Matt Stief stickhandles the puck during Canisius' matchup with AIC at the Harborcenter
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Winner USNTDP USNTDP
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Canisius CAN
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Score By Periods
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Canisius CAN 1 0 0 1

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Defeated by U.S. NTDP U-18 Squad in Exhibition

The United States National Team Development Program U-18 Team used goals from three different players to defeat Canisius, 3-1, in a collegiate men's ice hockey exhibition contest Sunday at KeyBank Rink at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
 
Team USA used a balanced attack that saw Hunter Strand opened the scoring in the first, Chase Yoder give them the lead in the second and Luke Tuch notch an insurance marker with an empty-net goal in the third to secure the victory.
 
Senior Matt Stief accounted for the lone goal for the host Golden Griffins.  
 
Strand opened the scoring less than eight minutes into the contest, beating Canisius goaltender Daniel Urbani with a wrist shot to the blocker side from the middle of the slot.
 
Stief tied the game at the 16:16 mark of the first with a power-play tally, putting home a loose puck from just off the left post after freshman Simon Gravel was denied on the rush.
 
Yoder gave Team USA a 2-1 lead just past the midway point of the contest, deflecting a point shot from Daniel Laatsch past Urbani from just in front of the Canisius goal.
 
The Griffs applied pressure in the third looking for the equalizer, but were unable to tie the game with their best chance coming on a point shot from junior Blake Wareham that found its way through traffic but hit the right post. Tuch added an empty-net goal for Team USA with 1:25 remaining to put the game out of reach.
 
Urbani made 27 saves in goal for Canisius. Drew Commesso finished with 20 stops between the pipes for the NTDP.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"Our goal right now as a young team early in the season is growth. We had some moments tonight where we were sharp and hard to play against and we had some moments when we were not. That's something that this team is going to look at. When we're great, what are we doing: we're playing hard, we're communicating and we're checking. In terms of this game against a quality opponent, we were okay at moments, but we always can improve. That's the takeaway from tonight.
 
"It's great to get a power-play goal. It's something we're working on a lot as right now, our power play is not clicking at the highest rate it can. We have great players who can pass and receive, but our execution hasn't been great. We didn't know if we're going to score a really nice first power-play goal or get once of those power-play goals that gets a puck on net and a rebound. It just so happens we get the first that way, so moving forward, we have to do a better job of executing on the power play to get us more goals.
 
"(Daniel) Urbani was solid tonight. Getting back in net in a game situation is great for him and our team. The save that he makes in the first period when it was 1-1 was unbelievable. It looked like a tap-in goal for Team USA; I still don't know how he made that save, but he was able to do that. For him, it's a confidence builder. For our team, it's great that he's back in the net. It's good for everybody. I was excited for him that he was able to get in and feel the game again and understand what that is. He had a solid performance tonight."  
 
Game Notes
• Sunday's game was the fifth contest between Canisius and the U.S. NTDP. Team USA increased its lead in the series to 4-0-1 with the victory.
• Team USA out-shot Canisius by a 30-21 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 22-11 edge over the final two periods.
• Canisius was 1-for-4 on the power play while Team USA was 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
• Urbani saw his first game action since missing the 2018-19 season due to injury on Sunday.
 
Up Next
• Canisius begins a stretch of eight of its next nine games at home when it hosts non-conference foe Union in a two-game series at KeyBank Rink at LECOM Harborcenter Nov. 1-2.
• Game one of the series is slated for a 7:35 p.m. puck drop while finale is set for a 4:05 p.m. start.
• Tickets to both games are still available. To purchase, visit ticketmaster.com or call the Canisius Ticket Office at 716-888-TIXX.
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