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Canisius University Athletics

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Matt Hoover action vs Niagara 11-15-18
www.tomwolf.smugmug.com
3
RIT RIT 10-7-3, 7-6-3 AHA
5
Winner Canisius CAN 5-12-1, 4-7-1 AHA
RIT RIT
10-7-3, 7-6-3 AHA
3
Final
5
Canisius CAN
5-12-1, 4-7-1 AHA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
RIT RIT 0 0 3 3
Canisius CAN 1 1 3 5

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hoover’s Heroics Lift Hockey Past RIT

Senior forward Matt Hoover scored with 59 seconds remaining in regulation to break a 3-3 tie and propel Canisius to a 5-3 victory over RIT in Atlantic Hockey action Saturday at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
 
Hoover was one of five different goal scorers for the Golden Griffins (5-12-1, 4-7-1 AHA) as fellow seniors Nick Hutchison and Will Scherer, as well as sophomores Lee Lapid and Mitchell Martan, all found the back of the net to help Canisius take four of six points during the home-and-home series against their long-time rivals.  
 
Caleb Moretz scored two goals and Will Calverley finished with a goal and an assist for the visiting Tigers (10-7-3, 7-6-3 AHA)
 
Hoover's game-winning goal came just 19 seconds after Calverley capped a three-goal comeback for RIT as he deposited a backdoor feed from Hutchison into the Tigers' goal to restore the Canisius advantage.
 
Hutchison added an insurance marker 29 seconds later with an empty-net goal to determine the two-goal margin.
 
Earlier in the contest, Lapid opened the scoring at the 13:58 mark of the first period, tapping home a goalmouth feed from Hoover while the Griffs had a two-man advantage.
 
Martan doubled the Canisius margin with an unassisted effort just past the midway point of the contest, blocking a shot at the top of the Griffs' defensive zone and collecting the puck at center ice before beating Drackett with a shot between the legs on the ensuing breakaway.
 
Canisius expanded its lead to 3-0 a little more than four minutes into the third when RIT inadvertently played a puck into its net that was credited to Scherer.
 
Moretz ignited the RIT comeback with a pair power-play goals during a seven-minute span in the third. He got the Tigers on the board at the 6:25 mark of the final frame, beating Canisius goaltender Jacob Barczewski from the left side before adding his second of the period on a rebound with 6:19 remaining to make it a one-goal game.

Calverley tied the contest at 3-3 with 1:17 to play in regulation as, with the Tigers' net empty, his second-chance effort from just off the right post slipped past Barczewski and into the Canisius goal, setting the stage for Hoover's heroics.
 
Barczewski made 25 saves in goal for Canisius while Drackett finished with 24 stops between the pipes for RIT.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"Obviously, it was an exciting third period for everybody that was watching. I really liked our first period. I don't think they registered a shot on net, that's pretty rare in college hockey. The third period was a little bit all over the place. We go up 3-0 and I felt we were playing well, but obviously RIT was pushing, they get a couple of power-play goals and then a late one and all of a sudden, it's that that top line of Hoover, Hutch (Nick Hutchison) and G (Grant Meyer) going out and winning us a hockey game. So that was a great finish to a game and felt like the result was what we deserved. So, we move on and get better.
 
We handled their aggressive for check really well in the first two periods. We had a game plan, and the guys went out and executed extremely well. When it was time that we needed a hard battle with close support, we got that. When we had some time and space we made some really good passing plays; we found guys in great areas. And then all of a sudden, in the offensive zone, we're playing together. We're using our defenseman, we're generating lots of corsi for and lots of shots on net. We had really just good flow to our game during the first two periods.
 
"We're a young team that's trying to learn how to win. When we went up 3-0, we tried to not back off on the forecheck, but just play smart hockey. I didn't think we were able to do that, we could have got some pucks in better spots when we were in the neutral zone; we were not able to capitalize on those opportunities and then we started to reach a little bit and we had to defend really hard, so we take a couple of penalties. And they get two power-play goals and it felt like we were on our heels at that moment, but it's going to happen. Teams are going to push in that situation. We'll have a better scheme and a better effort to handle that next time."
 
Game Notes
• Saturday's game served as the first meeting between Canisius and RIT at LECOM Harborcenter since Jan. 21, 2017. Canisius improved its recorded versus RIT at Harborcenter to 3-1-1 with Saturday's victory.
• Both teams were credited with 28 shots on goal on Saturday. Canisius held RIT without a shot on frame during the first period while the Tigers enjoyed a 17-9 advantage during the third.
• Canisius was 1-for-6 on the power play while RIT was 2-for-4. Lapid's first-period goal was Canisius' second 5-on-3 goal of the season.
• Canisius improved to 4-0-0 this season and 36-5-1 since the start of the 2016-17 campaign when scoring four or more goals in a game.
• The Griffs also improved to 4-4-0 this season when scoring the first goal of the game and 5-2-0 in 2019-20 when holding a lead after 40 minutes.
• With his two points on Saturday, Hutchison moved within five points of the 100-point plateau for his career. He also recorded multiple points in a game for the fifth time this season and the 24th time in his career.
• Scherer's third-period goal was the first of his career and his first point in a Canisius uniform.
• Hoover's game-winning goal was his second of the season (Nov. 16 vs. Niagara) and sixth of his career. Hoover finished with multiple points in a game for the fourth time this season and the 13th time in his career.
• Junior Grant Meyer dished out multiple assists in a game for the second time this season and the sixth time his career with his two-assist effort on Saturday.
 
 Up Next
• Canisius begins a stretch that will see them play seven of their next eight away from home with a two-game Atlantic Hockey series at Bentley Jan. 9-10.
• Start time for both games of the series is set for 7:05 p.m. at Bentley Arena in Waltham, Mass.
 
 
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