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Ladd_Matt actin vs RIT 3-2-19
Marshall Haim
2
Winner Canisius CAN 11-18-5, 8-16-4 AHA
1
RIT RIT 15-15-4. 13-11-4 AHA
Winner
Canisius CAN
11-18-5, 8-16-4 AHA
2
Final
1
RIT RIT
15-15-4. 13-11-4 AHA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 1 0 1 2
RIT RIT 0 0 1 1

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Late Goal Sparks Hockey to 2-1 Victory at RIT

Senior Felix Chamberland scored a power-play goal with 5:47 remaining in regulation to break a 1-1 tie and lift Canisius to a 2-1 victory over RIT in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y.
 
Junior Matt Hoover opened the scoring for the Golden Griffins (11-18-5, 8-16-4 AHA) with an even-strength goal in the first period. Freshman goaltender Matt Ladd made Chamberland's go-ahead goal stand, stopping 33-of-34 shots faced to help lead Canisius to the one-goal victory.
 
Senior Erik Brown scored the lone goal for the Tigers (15-15-4, 13-11-4 AHA) while goaltender Logan Drackett finished with 30 saves between the pipes for RIT.  
 
Chamberland authored the decisive tally with less than six minutes remaining in the third, putting home a rebound from just off the right post after senior Jimmy Mazza's shot on the rush was stopped by Drackett.
 
That tally proved to be the difference as Canisius dominated play in the final frame, recording 17 of the 21 shots taken during the third.
 
Hoover opened the scoring at the 8:32 mark of the contest, putting home fellow junior Nick Hutchison's backdoor feed on an odd-man rush for his 10th of the campaign.
 
RIT controlled play in the second, out-shooting Canisius by a 15-6 margin in the middle frame, but Ladd was up to the challenge, turning aside all 15 attempts to keep it a 1-0 contest.
 
The Tigers finally broke through less than five minutes into the third period when Brown jammed home a loose puck from just off the left post after Abbott Girduckis' initial attempt hit the end boards and ricocheted back towards the Canisius goal, setting the stage for Chamberland's game-winning goal.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"We played very simple tonight. We skated and we worked. That's a recipe that's had some success for us in recent games. It was absolutely a playoff atmosphere tonight with a great crowd. It was a tough game to play in. Both teams were playing hard and I could not be happier for our team to get a win going into what's hopefully going to be a long playoff run.
 
"We were very together during the third. Once they scored to make it 1-1, I was curious to see how we were going to respond. Adversity was there. It's something that's going to be there from now on in every game and every moment. Our guys played extremely hard and together for the remainder of the game. They would not be denied tonight.
 
"When you have a calming presence in net, it goes a long way. It allows our team to go out and play. Matt was extremely calm tonight. There were a lot of shots on net, maybe not all grade-A chances, but a ton of volume in the first two periods and lots of bodies around him. He was able to swallow pucks and kill plays often. It was an extremely calming presence. It's another tremendous performance for him. Come playoff time, you need to have solid goaltending to win. Right now, we're getting that. Matt's building confidence and our team and coaches are all with him as he's solidified the starting role with us."
 
Game Notes
• Saturday's contest served as the 77th meeting between Canisius and RIT. The Griffs improved to 16-23-1 against the Tigers in the Division I era of the series with Saturday's victory.
• RIT out-shot Canisius by a 34-32 margin for the contest. The Griffs recorded 17 of their 32 shots during the third period.
• Canisius was 1-for-2 on the power play while RIT was 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
• The Griffs improved to 5-7-3 this season when scoring the first goal of the contest. Canisius also moved to 7-1-1 in 2018-19 when holding a lead entering the third period.
• Chamberland recorded his second game-winning goal of the season and fourth of his career with his third-period tally. The power-play goal was also his fourth of the season and 14th of his career.
• Mazza's assist on Chamberland game-winning goal was the 49th of his career.
• Hoover became the fourth different Canisius player to reach double-digits in goals this season with his first-period marker (senior Dylan McLaughlin, Hutchison, sophomore Austin Alger).
• Ladd recorded 30 or more saves for the fifth straight contest and seventh time this season with his 33-save effort on Saturday.  
 
Up Next
• Canisius will be the No. 11 seed for the 2019 Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament.  
• The Griffs will play at No. 6 Niagara in a first-round series March 8-10.
• Game times and ticket information for the best-of-three series will be released once it becomes available.
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