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Canisius University Athletics

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Buffalo, N.Y. - Keaton Mastrodonato (left) celebrates with David Melaragni and Kevin Obssuth following Melaragni's goal in Canisius' 5-2 victory over Holy Cross at LECOM Harborcenter on Dec. 28. 2019
Marshal Filipowicz
2
Holy Cross HC 3-10-4, 2-9-2 AHA
5
Winner Canisius CAN 3-12-0, 2-7-0 AHA
Holy Cross HC
3-10-4, 2-9-2 AHA
2
Final
5
Canisius CAN
3-12-0, 2-7-0 AHA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Holy Cross HC 2 0 0 2
Canisius CAN 2 2 1 5

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Opens Second Half with Victory over Holy Cross

Canisius tallied the final three goals of the game to break a 2-2 tie and defeat Holy Cross, 5-2, in Atlantic Hockey action Saturday at KeyBank Rink at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
 
Seniors Matt Hoover (2g, 1a) and Nick Hutchison (1g, 2a) tallied three points each to pace a Golden Griffins' (3-12-0, 2-7-0 AHA) attack that established a season high for goals scored in the victory.
 
Freshmen David Melaragni and Keaton Mastrodonato accounted for the other two Canisius tallieswhile rookie netminder Jacob Barczewski posted his first collegiate victory as he stopped all 17 shots he faced in relief of sophomore Matt Ladd, who left the game late in the first period due to injury.
 
Conner Jean and Grayson Constable accounted for the two goals for the Crusaders (3-10-4, 2-9-2 AHA).
 
Tied at 2-2 at the start of the second period, Melaragni netted what proved to be the game-winning goal at the 10:31 mark of the middle frame, collecting a feed from junior Austin Alger as he entered the offensive zone and firing a snap shot over the glove of Holy Cross goaltender Matt Radomsky for his first collegiate tally.
 
Hutchison doubled the Canisius margin to 4-2 with 15:12 elapsed in the second, tapping home a backdoor feed from sophomore Lee Lapid from just off the right post moments after a Canisius power-play opportunity had expired.
 
Canisius recorded an insurance marker with a power-play goal just past the six-minute mark of the third when a shot attempt from sophomore Mitchell Martan was stopped by Radomsky, but the rebound deflected off a charging Mastrodonato and into the Holy Cross goal to determine the three-goal margin of victory.
 
Earlier in the contest, the teams traded goals during a back-and-forth first as Hoover opening the scoring at the 5:39 mark of the contest with a rebound goal, only to see Holy Cross respond just 24 seconds later with the equalizer on a second-chance tally off the stick of Jean.  
 
Hoover struck for a second time in the opening frame with a power-play goal that saw him beat Radomsky with a one-timer from the right face-off circle, but Holy Cross once again had an answer in the form of a goal off the rush by Constable that tied the game at 2-2 and set the stage for Canisius' second-period surge.  
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"After Christmas break, you never know how your team is going to perform; what's going to be crisp and what's going to take some time to get back into it. I thought both teams felt that early in the game. There were a couple of early goals and a little bit of back-and-forth and maybe some mental mistakes that were happening after a long break for both teams. I really liked the second half of the game for us, how our power play got clicking. Special teams were obviously important tonight. Our penalty kill was great. Jacob Barczewski gets into the game for the second and third periods because of an injury and I though he performed really well. Obviously happy with the result and now we look forward to tomorrow.
 
"As the game went on, our power play, if they didn't score, they got some good momentum for us. We didn't give Holy Cross a lot of great opportunities. They were trying to stretch some guys and trying to get some odd-man rushes and we made good adjustments and were able to keep black and purple in front of us while also coming back and supporting each other really well. It's a big win. It's a huge effort for a team that is looking for three points in conference. We were able to get that today. We need to take all the things we learned today and then some and get ready for a 4 o'clock game tomorrow."
 
Game Notes
• Saturday's game marked the 63rd meeting between Canisius and Holy Cross in the Division I era of the series. The Griffs now trail in the all-time series by a 32-21-10 margin after Saturday's victory.
• Holy Cross out-shot Canisius by a 26-23 margin for the contest, highlighted by an 11-6 edge in the third.
• Canisius was 2-for-6 with the man advantage as it scored multiple power-play goals in a game for the second straight contest and fifth time this season. Holy Cross was 0-for-4 on the power play Saturday.
• Canisius improved to 3-0-0 this season when scoring four or more goals in a game with Saturday's victory. The Griffs also moved to 2-4-0 in 2019-20 when scoring first and 3-2-0 when leading after 40 minutes.
• Senior defenseman Matt Stief recorded multiple assists for the third time this season as he finished with two assists on Saturday. Stief now leads the Griffs in scoring with 12 points this season (2g, 10a). 
• Both Hoover and Hutchison matched their career high in points with their three-point efforts on Saturday.
• With his goal on Saturday, Hutchison moved into a tie with Chris Duggan for seventh place on the program's Division I era chart for career goals (48). Hutchison reached the 90-point plateau for his career with his three-point effort on Saturday.
• Freshman defenseman John Stampohar posted his first collegiate point with an assist on Mastrodonato's third-period tally.
• Barczewski stopped his second penalty shot of the season on Saturday, denying Holy Cross' Erkka Vanska's attempt at the 7:23 mark of the third period.
 
Up Next
• The teams conclude their two-game series Sunday with a 4 p.m. contest at Harborcenter.
• Tickets for the game are still available. They can be purchased by calling 716-888-TIXX or by visiting Ticketmaster.com.
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