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Canisius University Athletics

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Matt Stief (L) and Smin Gravel celebrate following Stief's first-period goal against Union Saturday at LECOM Harborcenter
Dean Bogart
0
Union UNION 2-8-0
4
Winner Canisius CAN 1-4-0
Union UNION
2-8-0
0
Final
4
Canisius CAN
1-4-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Union UNION 0 0 0 0
Canisius CAN 1 0 3 4

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Defeats Union to Earn Series Split

Four different players scored goals and sophomore Matt Ladd stopped all 23 shots he faced to pace Canisius in a 4-0 victory over Union in collegiate men's ice hockey action Saturday at KeyBank Rink at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
 
Senior Matt Stief, sophomores J.D. Pogue and Lee Lapid and freshman Keaton Mastrodonato all recorded their first goals of the season for the Golden Griffins (1-4-0), who picked up their first win of the campaign with the shutout triumph.
 
Ladd made a game-high 13 saves in the first and turned aside all 10 shots he faced during the final two periods to post his second career shutout. Derion Hanson finished with 26 saves between pipes for the visiting Dutchmen (2-8-0).
 
Stief opened the scoring at the 8:31 mark of the first period, putting a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle between the legs of Hanson just seconds after a Union penalty had expired.
 
The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Griffs until the 5:37 mark of the third when Pogue beat Hanson with a shot to the blocker side from the right face-off circle to double the Canisius advantage to 2-0.  
 
Canisius put the game out of reach just past the midway point of the final frame, scoring two goals in a 44-second span build a four-goal cushion.
 
Lapid made it 3-0 with 11:45 elapsed in the third, putting home a rebound while the Griffs were on the power play before Mastrodonato closed out the scoring on the next shift to determine the four-goal margin of victory.  
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"We got the result we've been striving for, so we're pleased with that. We were rewarded for all the things we have been learning this season: assertiveness, effort in some pretty key areas. Overall, it was a great performance by our team, from the goaltender all the way up through every forward. I'm very pleased with the result tonight.
 
"You have intermissions and you go in and whether you had a great period or you didn't have a good period, you have to come back out and be the aggressor, no matter the situation, whether it's the start of a third where you're up a goal, such as was our scenario tonight. We haven't faced this situation yet this season, so we were challenging the guys during the second intermission, saying 'you have to be the aggressor, you have to take the game.' I couldn't be happier with how they did that. As the third went on, we were able to build momentum and score more goals. All of a sudden, we're making plays, we have confidence and we got the result we deserve."
 
Game Notes
• Saturday's game was the tenth meeting between Canisius and Union and just the fifth as Division I counterparts. Canisius picked up his first victory against the Dutchmen with Saturday's triumph.
• Canisius out-shot Union by a 30-23 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 17-10 edge of the last two periods.
• The Griffs were 1-for-6 on the power play while Union was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
• Canisius tallied four or more goals for the first time this season, improving to 33-5-1 since the beginning of the 2016-17 season when finishing with four or more goals in a game.
• The Griffs tallied the first goal of the game for the third time this season and moved to 1-2-0 when doing so.
• Stief became the first Canisius defenseman to record a goal this season with his first-period tally while Mastrodonato is the first Griffs freshman to find the back of the net in 2019-20 with his third-period strike.
 
Up Next
• Canisius opens Atlantic Hockey Association play with a home-and-home series against Robert Morris.
• The Griffs and Colonials open their two-game set Nov. 8 with a 7:35 p.m. puck drop at KeyBank Rink at the LECOM Harborcenter before moving to Colonials Arena in Pittsburgh the following evening for a 7 p.m. start.
• Tickets for the series opener are still available. To purchase, visit ticketmaster.com or call the Canisius Ticket Office at 716-888-TIXX.
 
Follow the Griffs
• For complete coverage of Canisius hockey, please follow the Griffs on social media at @GriffsHockey (Twitter, Facebook & Instagram). 
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