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Canisius University Athletics

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Alger_Austin action vs RMU 1-19-19
Dean Bogart
2
Canisius CAN 9-16-3, 6-14-2
3
Winner Bentley BEN 13-11-3, 12-7-2
Canisius CAN
9-16-3, 6-14-2
2
Final
3
Bentley BEN
13-11-3, 12-7-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 OT 1 F
Canisius CAN 0 1 1 0 2
Bentley BEN 0 0 2 1 3

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Edged by Bentley in Overtime, 3-2

Jonathan Desbiens scored 3:30 into overtime to lift Bentley to a 3-2 victory over Canisius in Atlantic Hockey Association action Friday at Bentley Arena in Waltham, Mass.
 
Matt Riggleman and Brendan Walkom also scored for the Falcons (13-11-3, 12-7-2 AHA), who extended their nation-best unbeaten streak to 10 games with the victory.
 
Junior Matt Hoover and sophomore Austin Alger accounted for the two tallies for the Golden Griffins (9-16-3, 6-14-2 AHA).
 
Desbiens authored the decisive marker with 1:30 remaining in the extra session as he collected a pass from Tanner Jago and skated into the Canisius zone before firing a wrist shot over the left pad of Canisius goaltender Matt Ladd to give the Falcons their sixth straight victory.
 
Earlier in the contest, Hoover staked Canisius to a 1-0 lead just after the midway point of the second period, deflecting a goalmouth feed from senior Dylan McLaughlin past Bentley netminder Aidan Pelino for his ninth goal of the campaign.
 
Riggleman brought the Falcons level at the 9:31 mark of the third period, redirecting a point shot from Brett Orr into the net to tie the game at 1-1.
 
Walkom put Bentley in front for the first time a little more than four minutes later when his shot from the right faceoff circle ricocheted off a Canisius player and inside the right post to give the Falcons a 2-1 cushion.
 
Alger tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play goal just 1:45 later, getting behind the Bentley defense and roofing a backhanded effort under the crossbar for his 10th of the campaign, setting the stage for Desbiens' heroics.
 
Ladd made 26 saves in goal for Canisius while Pelino finished with 20 stops between the pipes for the Falcons.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"I was proud of our effort tonight. We're playing the right way. It was a game where it felt like overtime was going to be needed to decide the outcome. To leave this game with no points just doesn't feel very good. But, the way we're playing is strong. I like the performance of a lot of individual players right now. We're a little short staffed at the moment, but in terms of effort and attitude, I loved what we brought to the game. It's a road hockey game against an opponent that feels like everything is going its way and winning lots of games right now. We feel we deserved more, but that's the way hockey is. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We've got to find a way to recover and get ready for an afternoon game tomorrow.
 
"Obviously (the game-tying goal in the third) was a big moment for our power play. I felt that Austin Alger was great tonight. I thought that his energy was fantastic and his compete was really high. He was able to show a really good burst of speed and make a great play to tie it up for us. Matt Hoover was also great tonight. We have a lot of guys pulling in the right direction. We're down right now, but I do like the way we're playing. Matt Ladd was very solid in net. He's back and healthy and I thought he was great tonight."
 
Game Notes
• Friday's contest served as the first matchup between Canisius and Bentley at the brand-new Bentley Arena. The Griffs continue to lead the all-time series by a 33-27-6 margin.
• Friday's game was the fourth overtime contest of the season for the Griffs. Canisius moved to 0-1-3 in extra-session games with the setback.
• Canisius moved to 3-7-2 this season when scoring the first goal of the contest.
• The Griffs slipped to 5-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes in 2018-19. The loss was the first for Canisius when leading after two periods of play since a 4-1 setback at Merrimack on Dec. 20, 2014, snapping a 37-game undefeated streak under such circumstances.
• McLaughlin now sits eight points away from matching Cory Conacher for first place on the program's Division I era chart for career points (147) after recording an assist on Friday.
• Alger recorded multiple points in a game for the sixth time this season and second time in three games with his two-point effort on Friday (1g, 1a).  
• Junior Matt Stief recorded his 13th assist of the season on Friday, 10 of which have come while the Griffs were on the power play.
• Freshman defenseman Derek Hamelin made his collegiate debut on Friday.
 
Up Next
• The teams conclude their season series Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest at Bentley Arena.
 
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