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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius celebration vs Niagara 3-8-19
Dean Bogart
4
Canisius CAN 11-19-5, 8-16-4 AHA
5
Winner Niagara NIA 13-17-5, 11-12-5 AHA
Canisius CAN
11-19-5, 8-16-4 AHA
4
Final
5
Niagara NIA
13-17-5, 11-12-5 AHA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 OT 1 OT 2 F
Canisius CAN 1 1 2 0 0 4
Niagara NIA 2 1 1 0 1 5

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Niagara Defeats Hockey in Double Overtime of Game One, 5-4

Justin Kendall scored at the 9:53 mark of double overtime to lift No. 6 seed Niagara to a 5-4 victory over No. 11 seed Canisius in game one of their Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament first round series Friday at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, N.Y.
 
Ben Sokay chipped in two goals, while Noah Delmas and Johnny Curran added single tallies for the Purple Eagles (13-17-5).
 
Senior Jimmy Mazza scored twice to lead the Golden Griffins (11-19-5). Junior Matt Hoover and freshman Mitchell Martan accounted for the other two Canisius goals.
 
Approaching the midway point of the second overtime session, Kendall authored the game-winning goal when he raced into the Canisius zone and got around a falling Griffs defender before sliding the puck between the legs of goaltender Matt Ladd to give the Purple Eagles the game and the lead in the best-of-three series.
 
Kendall's goal came after Niagara forced overtime in the final seconds of regulation when Sokay redirected a point shot from Jared Brandt for his second of the contest to knot the score at 4-4 a little more than four minutes after Martan had given Canisius its first lead of the contest.  
 
Delmas opened the scoring at the 13:55 mark of the first with a power-play tally, beating Ladd with a wrist shot to the blocker side from the middle of the slot.
 
Hoover brought Canisius level a little more than two minutes later, one-timing a feed from senior Dylan McLaughlin over the glove of Purple Eagles netminder Brian Wilson for his 11th of the campaign.
 
Sokay gave Niagara a 2-1 lead with less than a minute to play in the opening frame when his shot from the top of the left faceoff circle found its way through traffic and into the Canisius net with one second remaining on a Purple Eagles power play.
 
The second period saw the teams trade goals during a 51-second span early in the frame. Mazza tied the game at the 6:53 mark with a point shot that trickled past Wilson, only to see Curran answer on the following shift when he finished off an odd-man rush make it a 3-2 contest.
 
Mazza brought Canisius level once again less than a minute into the third when he finished off a rush down the right side with a wrist shot between the legs of Wilson from the bottom of the right faceoff circle.
 
Martan gave Canisius its first lead of the contest at the 15:34 mark of the third with his deflection of senior Cameron Heath's shot, setting the stage for Sokay's game-tying goal.
 
Ladd recorded 38 saves in goal for Canisius while Wilson finished with 32 stops for Niagara.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"It's obviously a tough loss anytime you lose in double overtime. I liked how we played. A lot of things we did were right out of scout. Guys competed hard. We have to recover quickly and get ready for an afternoon game tomorrow.
 
"We had a too-many-men penalty in the first, which is a tough pill to swallow. Grant (Meyer) got a penalty in that opening period that I feel he would want back. After that, our discipline was great. The referees let us play. That's what everybody wants at playoff time. I liked the discipline after the first period. When we do that, we give ourselves a chance to win a hockey game.
 
"It was good to have the break after they got the goal to tie the game. I felt we were playing really well and taking it to them in the third period. I told the guys heading into overtime not to change. We don't know how long the game is going to go. I told them to continue with what we were doing. There wasn't a need to make any strategic changes at all. I really liked how we played in both overtimes. It was not our night."
 
Game Notes
• Friday's contest served as the 55th meeting between Canisius and Niagara. The Griffs saw their lead in the series move to 25-24-6 with the setback.
• The game was the ninth postseason contest between the two Western New York rivals and first to go overtime. Canisius' lead in the postseason portion of the series moved to 6-3 with Friday's setback.
• Canisius played its 10th overtime game in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament with Friday's contest. The Griffs moved to 7-3 in overtime contests in the AHA Tournament with the double-overtime setback.
• Niagara out-shot Canisius by a 43-36 margin for the game, highlighted by a 12-4 edge in the second period.
• Niagara was 2-for-3 on the power play while Canisius was 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
• With two assists on Friday, McLaughlin moved within one point of matching Cory Conacher '11 for first place on the program's Division I era career points chart (147).
• Hoover's first-period goal was his first power-play goal of the season and the eighth of his career.
• Mazza posted his first career multi-goal contest with his two-goal effort on Friday. 
 
Up Next
Game two of the best-of-three series will take place Saturday at Dwyer Arena. Puck Drop is set for 4 p.m.
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