Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Canisius forward Matt Long celebrates a goal during the Griffs' matchup with Robert Morris at LECOM Harborcenter on Feb. 22, 2020
www.tomwolf.smugmug.com
5
Winner Canisius CAN 1-0-0
2
Robert Morris RMU 2-1-0
Winner
Canisius CAN
1-0-0
5
Final
2
Robert Morris RMU
2-1-0
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 1 1 3 5
Robert Morris RMU 1 0 1 2

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Begins Campaign in Win Column with Victory at RMU

Senior Matt Long scored two goals, including the game winner, to pace Canisius to a 5-2 victory over Robert Morris in Atlantic Hockey Association action Friday at Clearview Arena in Moon Township, Pa.
 
In the league opener for both programs, Long started the scoring midway through the first and tallied what proved to be the decisive goal early in the third to help guide the Golden Griffins to victory in their season debut. Senior Austin Alger, freshman Max Kouznetsov and sophomore Keaton Mastrodonato accounted for the other three Golden Griffins' tallies.
 
Nick Jenny and Darcy Walsh scored for the host Colonials, who dropped to 2-1-0 overall on the young season.
 
Long got Canisius staked Canisius to a 1-0 lead at the 10:33 mark of the first, cleaning up a rebound from just in front of the RMU cage.
 
Nick Jenny brought RMU level with a power-play goal just 76 seconds after Long's opening salvo as he fired a slap shot from the top of the point that found its way through traffic and past the glove of Canisius sophomore netminder Jacob Barczewski.  
 
Kouznetsov restored the Griffs' lead with a little more than five minutes remaining in the second when he finished off a goalmouth scramble for his first collegiate tally.
 
Long stretched the Canisius advantage to 3-1 just 70 seconds into the third, burying sophomore Ryan Miotto's feed past the glove of West from the middle of the slot for his second of the contest.
 
Alger gave the Griffs a 4-1 cushion just seconds before the midway point of the third, finishing off a 2-on-2 rush with a snap shot that beat West to the blocker side.
 
Walsh brought the Colonials within less than two minutes after Alger's goal when Walsh chipped an uncovered puck over Barczewski from just in front of the Griffs' goal to make it a 4-2 game.
 
Mastrodonato quelled any RMU comeback attempts, however, tallying an empty-net goal with 1:18 remaining to determine the final margin.
 
Barczewski made 35 saves between the pipes for the Griffs while West turned aside 41 shots in his collegiate debut.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"We play the games to win. We don't play games just to play them. So, the result is something that we put in the bank. Our focus has been to get a little bit better every day. I think today we did that. It was an unbelievable effort from guys up and down our roster to get the win tonight. It was a very tough game; it was physical, but clean. It required a lot of effort from a lot of guys. We end the game with three big blocks. That just shows the commitment that our guys had in the first game of the season to do everything it takes to win.
 
"Our senior class was great tonight. They're spread throughout our lineup; they're not together. We have a lot of leadership on this team and those guys are leading the way. They showed up on the game sheet, they showed up on the bench with how we communicate to each other. They were showing up in all the areas that seniors and true leaders do. I know they're happy with how they played and they're hungry to get better.
 
"Our third period tonight was excellent. Something we've been talking about is always being in an attack mode. Whether you're up or down in a game, it requires an individual to have an attack mindset. With an attack mentality, we're not going to hold back, we're not going to retreat at all, we're going to continue to push. That was a really solid third period by us tonight. Robert Morris had a couple shifts where they pushed which we knew; that a good team like that is going to attack in the third on home ice when they're down a goal. It was important that our guys respond and keep going back at them. That is something that I'm very proud of the effort tonight and it's required all the time. So, I'm very pleased with that attack mentality and it's going to continue."
 
Game Notes
• Friday's contest served as the 36th meeting between Canisius and Robert Morris. The Griffs snapped a four-game winless streak versus the Colonials with Friday's victory to move their all-time record versus RMU to 11-21-4.
• The win was Canisius' third victory in 15 tries against RMU at Clearview Arena and the first since a 6-4 victory back on Oct. 9, 2005.
• Canisius won its season debut for the first time under Large as it also improved to 14-23-4 in games played during its opening weekend of competition.
• Canisius out-shot Robert Morris by a 46-37 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 36-22 advantage in shots on goal during the first two periods.
• Canisius' 46 shots on goal were the most in a game for the Griffs since putting 47 attempts on frame in a 5-4 double-overtime victory versus Mercyhurst in the semifinals of the Atlantic Hockey Championship back on March 21, 2014.
• Canisius improved to 47-4-1 since the start of the 2016-17 season when leading after 40 minutes with Friday's victory. The Griffs also improved to 50-18-5 in that timeframe when scoring first.
• Long tallied multiple goals in a game for the first time in his career with his two-goal effort on Friday.
• Kouznetsov became the first Canisius freshman to score in his collegiate debut since current junior Kevin Obssuth found the net in his first collegiate contest at Holy Cross on Oct. 12, 2018.
• Freshman Cooper Haar tallied multiple assists in his collegiate debut while fellow newcomer Jami Virtanen also picked up a helper in his first appearance in a Canisius uniform.
• Erne recorded his first career point with the primary assist on Long's first-period tally.
• Barczewski notched his first point with an assist on Mastodonato's empty-net goal.
 
Up Next
• The teams wrap up their weekend series tomorrow afternoon with a 4:05 p.m. contest at Clearview Arena.
Print Friendly Version