Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Austin Alger skates the puck up ice during Canisius' matchup with Niagara at LECOM Harborcenter on Nov. 16, 2019
www.tomwolf.smugmug.com
2
Canisius CAN 2-12-0, 1-7-0
3
Winner American Int'l AIC 7-7-0, 7-4-0
Canisius CAN
2-12-0, 1-7-0
2
Final
3
American Int'l AIC
7-7-0, 7-4-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 OT 1 F
Canisius CAN 1 1 0 0 2
American Int'l AIC 0 0 2 1 3

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Stung by AIC in Overtime

Blake Christensen scored two goals, including the game-winner at the 3:17 mark of overtime, to lift AIC to a 3-2 victory over Canisius in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass.
 
Trailing by two heading into the third period, Yellow Jackets (7-7-0, 7-5-0 AHA) used goals in the opening half of the final frame from Christensen and Hugo Reinhardt to force overtime before Christensen stuck again during the extra session to complete the AIC comeback and secure the sweep.
 
Junior Austin Alger and senior Nick Hutchison tallied power-play goals while sophomore Matt Ladd made 28 saves between the pipes for the Golden Griffins (2-12-0, 1-7-0 AHA).
 
Down 2-0 at the start of the third, Christensen got the Yellow Jackets on the board exactly one minute into the frame, putting home a backdoor feed from Nicolas Luka to cut the Canisius lead in half.
 
Reinhardt tied the game at 2-2 just before the midway point of the third with a power-play goal, beating Ladd with a shot to the glove side from the middle of the slot.
 
The game headed to overtime, where AIC was able to create a 2-on-1 break that saw Chris Dodero connect with Christensen just in front of the left post, where he deposited the puck into the Canisius net to give the Yellow Jackets the victory.
 
Earlier in the contest, Alger opened the scoring at the 6:40 mark of the first, taking a cross-ice pass from senior Matt Hoover and beating AIC goaltender Zakarias Skog with a wrist shot to the blocker side to give Canisius a 1-0 lead.  
 
Hutchison doubled the Griffs margin with 1:09 remaining in the second period, one-timing a feed from Alger past Skog from the right face-off circle for his team-leading fifth goal of the campaign, setting the stage for the Yellow Jackets' comeback.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large Postgame Comments
"It's a tough loss for sure. Our effort was extreme. The hockey gods are unfair sometimes, not that I want to take anything away from AIC, they battled. It's a gritty win for them. I liked our guys from the start of the game until the final goal went in. We deserved a better fate. I'm very proud of the effort up and down our lineup after a tough game yesterday. There's a resiliency about this group. Moving forward, we need to continue to get better. That's always the goal. Today is something we're going to take into the break and turn it into a positive.
 
"I was disappointed with the first five minutes (of the third). We were not hard enough. We didn't play simple enough and that was really the only lapse I felt we had. After that we responded well. It's something that we need to learn, that up 2-0 going into the third, you better throw the first punch. It's a lesson learned for us there. All-in-all, I'm proud of how we competed. Right now, we play really well and we're not being rewarded yet. When you don't play well, nobody wins. But it feels like we've had some games lately where we've played really well and we've lost. We now know it requires more to get what we want in this league. We go into the Christmas break feeling a little unhappy and frustrated. But, I believe in this group. They play together and we'll be better in the second half for it."
 
Game Notes
• Canisius out-shot AIC by a 35-31 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 14-4 advantage during the first period.
• The game was Canisius' first overtime contest of the 2019-20 season.
• Canisius recorded multiple power-play goals in a game for the fourth time this season as it was 2-for-4 with the man advantage on Saturday. AIC was 1-for-3 on the power play.
• Alger's first-period tally was his first power-play goal of the campaign as he became the sixth different Canisius player to score a power-play goal this season.
• Alger tallied multiple points in a game for the second time this season and the ninth time in his career with his two-point effort on Saturday.  
• Hutchison's power-play goal was his third of the season and the 23rd of his career, moving him into sole possession of third place on the program's Division I era chart for career power-play goals.
• Hutchison also now sits just three goals away from becoming the sixth player since the 1998-99 season to reach the 50-goal plateau for his career.
• Hoover tallied multiple assists in a game for the first time this season and the fourth time in his career with his two-assist effort on Saturday.
 
Up Next
• Canisius takes its traditional end-of-semester break before returning to action Dec. 28-29 with an AHA series versus Holy Cross at KeyBank Rink at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.  
• Puck drop for both games of the league series are set for 4:05 p.m.
• Tickets for both games are still available. They can be purchased by calling 716-888-TIXX or by visiting Ticketmaster.com.
Print Friendly Version