Hockey Travels to League-Leading Sacred Heart

Games 21-22
Dates: Friday, Jan. 17 | Saturday, Jan. 18
Times: 6:05 p.m. | 1:05 p.m.
Location: Bridgeport, Conn./Webster Bank Arena
Live Stats: Friday (XML) | Saturday (XML)
TV/Webcast: FloHockey.tv
Game Notes: Canisius (PDF) | Sacred Heart

The Canisius hockey team puts its unbeaten streak on the line this weekend when it heads to league-leading Sacred Heart for an Atlantic Hockey series.

The Golden Griffins and Pioneers open their two-game set at Webster Bank Arena Friday with a 6:05 p.m. contest before wrapping up the weekend slate the following day with a 1:05 p.m. matinee.

Scouting Canisius
• Unbeaten in its last six contests, Canisius begins the weekend in 10th place in the league standings with a 4-7-3-2 conference mark and a 5-12-3 overall record. The Griffs are just three points back of seventh-place Bentley and only eight points out of fifth place with games in hand.
• Senior Matt Hoover leads Canisius in scoring with 19 points on seven goals and 12 assists. Hoover, who has a team-best five power-play goals this season, begins the weekend riding a seven-game point-scoring streak (5g, 6a)
• Defenseman Matt Stief is second on the squad with 18 points, thanks in large part to his team-leading 16 assists. Stief has done most of his damage on the power play, with 15 of his 18 points coming when Canisius has had the man advantage, third most among all Division I players this season.
• Senior Nick Hutchison serves as the team's top goal scorer as the forward has found the back of the net 11 times in just 15 games. Hutchison, who has been on a goal-scoring tear of late with seven goals in his last seven contests, begins the series needing two points to reach the century mark for his career.
• Freshman goaltender Jacob Barczewski has been solid during the Griffs' six-game unbeaten streak, posting a .931 save percentage and a 2.03 goals against average in those contests. Barczewski has been busy during the six-game stretch, averaging 27.8 saves per contest.
• Canisius looks to continue its recent success on the power play this weekend as the Griffs have capitalized on nearly 30 percent of its power-play chances during its last five contests (10-of-36). For the season, Canisius is 19-of-92 with the man advantage (.207).

Canisius Battles Back Twice to Take Four-of-Six Points at Bentley
• Canisius extended its unbeaten streak to six games as posted a pair of ties and earned the bonus point in both games of an Atlantic Hockey series last weekend at Bentley.
• Game one saw the Griffs trailing 3-0 early in the second before goals by senior Matt Hoover, sophomore Lee Lapid and senior Nick Hutchison forced overtime. Hoover earned Canisius the bonus point when he scored in the second round of the shootout.
• Freshman goaltender Jacob Barczewski matched his season high with 33 saves as Bentley out-shot Canisius by a 36-21 margin for the contest.
• In game two, Canisius once again fell behind by a three-goal margin before battling back with three goals in the third to tie the game and force overtime. Following a scoreless 5-on-5 session, junior Logan Gestro found the back of the net in the first minute of 3-on-3 to give the Griffs a second point.
• Junior Grant Meyer scored twice while Hutchison and Lapid also found the back of the net for the second time in the series. Barczewski finished the finale with 30 saves.

Scouting Sacred Heart
• League-leading Sacred Heart enters the weekend two points ahead of second-place Army in the league standings with a 13-5-0 league record and a 14-7-1 overall ledger.
• Seniors Mike Lee and Jason Cotton have provided a potent 1-2 punch for the Pioneers attack as Lee leads the squad with 24 points (4g, 20a) while Cotton is second with 23 (14 g, 9a).
• Senior Austin McIlmurray is tied for the national lead with eight power-play goals to highlight a Sacred Heart attack that ranks among the most efficient in the nation with the man advantage as it has converted on 27.4 percent of its power-play opportunities this season (26-of-95).
• Sophomore Josh Benson has started all 22 games between the pipes for the Pioneers this season. He boasts a 2.17 goals against average and a .920 save percentage in 1299 minutes played this season, along with a league-best four shutouts.

Canisius-Sacred Heart Series Notes
• In 61 previous meetings between the two schools, Canisius holds a 30-23-8 advantage in the all-time series with Sacred Heart.
• The series has been fairly even as of late, with the teams going 4-4-2 against each other over the last 10 matchups, dating back to the 2015-16 campaign.
• Canisius is 12-15-6 in true road contests against Sacred Heart. The Griffs split their most recent visit to Connecticut, suffering a 6-2 setback in the opener before rallying for a 3-2 triumph in the finale of their most recent visit during the 2017-18 season.
• Last season, Canisius took 3-of-4 points from Sacred Heart in their lone regular-season series between the teams over Thanksgiving Weekend at Harborcenter. The series opener ended in a 3-3 tie before Casey Jerry scored a shorthanded goal in the final two minutes of regulation to lift the Griffs to a 3-2 victory.

Up Next
• Canisius completes its season series with longtime rival RIT with the second of two home-and-home series.
• The Griffs and Tigers open the weekend series Jan. 24 with a 7:35 p.m. contest at LECOM Harborcenter before the series shifts to Rochester for the series finale the following evening. Puck drop for the contest at the Gene Polisseni Center is slated for 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Logan Gestro: D; 6' 3"; Junior

#72 Matt Hoover: F; 5' 10"; Senior

#91 Nick Hutchison: F; 6' 3"; Senior

#23 Casey Jerry: F; 6' 1"; Senior

#28 Lee Lapid: F; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#15 Grant Meyer: F; 5' 8"; Junior

#24 Matt Stief: D; 5' 9"; Senior

#30 Jacob Barczewski: G; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#4 Logan Gestro
: 6' 3"; Junior
: D

#72 Matt Hoover
: 5' 10"; Senior
: F

#91 Nick Hutchison
: 6' 3"; Senior
: F

#23 Casey Jerry
: 6' 1"; Senior
: F

#28 Lee Lapid
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: F

#15 Grant Meyer
: 5' 8"; Junior
: F

#24 Matt Stief
: 5' 9"; Senior
: D

#30 Jacob Barczewski
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: G