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Canisius University Athletics

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McLaughlin_Dylan action vs Niagara 11-15-18
www.tomwolf.smugmug.com
3
Canisius CAN 9-15-2, 6-13-1 AHA
5
Winner Mercyhurst MER-M 13-14-2, 11-9-1 AHA
Canisius CAN
9-15-2, 6-13-1 AHA
3
Final
5
Mercyhurst MER-M
13-14-2, 11-9-1 AHA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 0 2 1 3
Mercyhurst MER-M 3 2 0 5

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Quick Start Sends Mercyhurst Past Hockey, 5-3

Mercyhurst tallied three goals in a 4:29 span midway through the first period to build an early cushion and held off a third-period push from Canisius to record a 5-3 victory in Atlantic Hockey Association action Friday at the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa.
 
Michael Bevilacqua, James Anderson and Dalton Hunter all scored during the game-changing stretch in the opening frame for the Lakers (13-14-2, 11-9-1 AHA) while Joshua Lammon and Owen Norton added power-play tallies in the second.
 
Senior Dylan McLaughlin tallied two goals and sophomore Austin Alger added a power-play marker in the third for the Golden Griffins (9-15-2, 6-13-1 AHA), who out-shot Mercyhurst by a 16-3 margin in the third as they pushed for the equalizer.
 
Bevilacqua staked Mercyhurst to a 1-0 lead at the 8:55 mark of the opening frame with a wrist shot that beat Canisius netminder Blake Weyrick to the blocker side.
 
Anderson and Hunter struck just 59 seconds apart a few minutes later to stretch the Lakers margin to 3-0. Anderson potted his eighth of the campaign during 4-on-4 action to begin the sequence before Hunter got his ninth of the season on the power play to give Mercyhurst a three-goal cushion less than 14 minutes into the contest.
 
In the second, Lammon increased the Mercyhurst cushion to 4-0 with a power-play goal at the 5:26 mark, but McLaughlin got Canisius on the board a little more than two minutes later with a man-advantage tally of his own, beating Mercyhurst keeper Stefano Cantali with a wrist shot from close range to pull the Griffs within three.
 
Norton restored the Lakers four-goal margin on the power play with just under four minutes to play in the second, but McLaughlin answered once again for Canisius, sliding a backhand past Cantali in the final minute during 4-on-4 play to trim the Griffs deficit to 5-2 heading into the third.
 
Alger made things interesting with four minutes to play in the third, redirecting a point shot from junior Matt Stief while Canisius was on the power play to pull the Griffs within two, 5-3.
 
That would be as close as Canisius would get, however, as Mercyhurst held the Griffs off the scoreboard the rest of the way to record the two-goal triumph.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"It's really hard to win when we don't get goaltending. That was pretty obvious early on tonight. I really liked how we played as a team, but we shot ourselves in the foot early in the game. We tried to battle back, but were unable to do it. We've got to learn from what happened tonight and get ready for the same opponent tomorrow.
 
"We were on Mercyhurst early in the game, playing really well and then all of sudden they get three goals in quick succession. It's frustrating when you're on the bench, but I liked how positive our guys were. They were scratching and clawing for our game and we need to continue to do that. Goaltending let us down tonight. In some games they've been our best players on the ice. There have been games where Blake (Weyrick) has been the best player on the ice. He would want this one back. He's got to put this one behind him quickly.
 
"The group as a whole is staying together. We're staying positive. We're battling for our game. This was maybe one of our best games of the season 5-on-5 in a while. Out-shooting an opponent like we did tonight is something that can help us have success. We need our penalty killing to be better. We need our goaltending to be better. We need to have disciplined, unselfish play from all of our players. When those things happen, we've got a lot of guys pulling the right way. A couple of anchors are not going to weigh us down."
 
Game Notes
• Friday's contest served as the 91st meeting between Canisius and Mercyhurst. The Lakers extended their lead in the all-time series to 46-35-10 and their edge in the Division I era of the series to 33-28-9 with the victory.
• Canisius held a 43-23 shot advantage in the contest, highlighted by a 16-3 margin in the third period.
• Mercyhurst was 3-for-5 with the power play while Canisius was 2-for-10 with the man advantage.
• Canisius surrendered four or more goals in a game for the 15th time this season and saw its record move to 2-13-0 when doing so.
• McLaughlin recorded multiple points in a game for the eighth time this season and the 37th time in his career with his three-point effort (2g, 1a) on Friday.
• McLaughlin's performance moved him within nine points of matching Cory Conacher for first place on the program's Division I era chart for career points (147).
• Alger recorded multiple points in a game for the fourth time this season with his three-point effort (1g, 2a) on Friday. The performance extended his point-scoring streak to four games (1g, 6a).
 
Up Next
• The teams conclude their home-and-home series Saturday with a 7:35 p.m. contest at Keybank Rink at Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
• Tickets for the game are still available. They can be purchased by visiting the ticket page on GoGriffs.com or by calling 716-888-TIXX.
 
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