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Canisius University Athletics

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BUFFALO, N.Y. - Forward Matt Long skates the puck during Canisius' matchup versus RIT at LECOM Harborcenter on Jan. 4, 2020
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2
Canisius CAN 7-15-4, 6-10-4 AHA
4
Winner Army ARMY 15-11-2, 12-8-2 AHA
Canisius CAN
7-15-4, 6-10-4 AHA
2
Final
4
Army ARMY
15-11-2, 12-8-2 AHA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 0 0 2 2
Army ARMY 0 2 2 4

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Upended by Army in Series Finale

Army used a pair of tallies from Colin Bilek to record a 4-2 victory over Canisius in Atlantic Hockey action Saturday at Tate Rink in West Point, N.Y.
 
Mason Krueger and Brendan Soucie also scored for the Black Knights (15-10-3, 12-8-2-2 AHA), who snapped a three-game losing skid with the victory.
 
Freshman Keaton Mastrodonato and junior Matt Long accounted for the two goals for the Golden Griffins (7-15-4, 6-10-4-3 AHA)
 
Following a scoreless first, Bilek struck twice in a 24-second stretch less than three minutes into the middle frame to give the Black Knights a two-goal cushion.
 
Bilek opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 2:16 mark of the second, beating Canisius goaltender Jacob Barczewski with a wrist shot from the middle of the slot before striking again for the Black Knights on the next shift, sneaking a shot past Barczewski from the right faceoff circle.  
 
Kruger stretched the Army cushion to 3-0 at the 3:31 mark of the third when his shot from the left point found its way through traffic and into the upper right-hand corner of the net.
 
Mastrodonato got the Griffs on the board less than three minutes later, tipping a shot from fellow freshman Hudson Lambert between the legs of Black Knights goaltender Trevin Kozlowski for his sixth of the campaign.
 
The teams traded special-team goals later in the third as Long pulled Canisius within one on a shorthanded breakaway goal while the Griffs were two-man down with 14:43 elapsed in the final frame, only to see Soucie answer for the Black Knights just 19 seconds later with a power-play goal to determine the final two-goal margin.  
 
Kozlowski made 14 saves in goal for Army. Barczewski finished with 29 stops between the pipes for Canisius.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"We were not the better team tonight. We had a really good first period, but we
absolutely couldn't handle Army's push in the second. We took too many penalties.
They were 2-for-6 on the power play. It's not a complaint. Our guys need to remember how important discipline is. At times, we were trying to play referee on the bench and we need to figure that out. I felt we had learned that lesson earlier in the season, but again, there's adversity in every game. That seemed to be ours tonight; discipline in staying out of the penalty box.
 
"They were harder in the second period. They won puck battles. We talked about needing to commit to each individual battle. They got us out of sync a little bit in the breakout where they were on us and we were doing things that we hadn't done in the first period, like getting rid of the puck too early. Our support was there, but we were putting pucks in wrong spots. There was a little bit of panic in some of our guys there and we needed to dial in and focus and get back to committing to the battle first and then winning those battles. It felt like we got that back in the third and then just too many penalties at bad times for us to really come back. I did like our push as we were down in the third period and something that we will always do and have always done the season is push back. So, we need to get better, we need to grow. That's where our focus is after every Saturday game and we now get ready for Air Force.
 
"Nope (when asked if it will benefit his team being at home for the next five games). It doesn't matter who we play, where we play or when we play. Our focus is solely on what our job is: to go out and push and get better and to dominate an opponent. So, when I think about the stretch we've been on lately (seven of eight away from home), we're playing really good hockey. That's where our focus is as a staff and our team. I know that our guys believe that it really doesn't matter who we play, when we play or where we play, we will be prepared.
 
Game Notes
• Army out-shot Canisius by a 33-16 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 28-9 advantage over the final two periods.
• The Black Knights were 2-of-6 on the power play while Canisius was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
• Saturday's game marked the first time in 13 games that Griffs failed to score a power-play goal (Dec. 6 at AIC)
• Long's third-period goal was the Griffs' second 3-on-5 shorthanded goal of the season and the third during the program's Division I era. All three of those 3-on-5 shorthanded goals have come against Army.
• The shorthanded goal was the Griffs fifth of the season, with three of those goals coming versus the Black Knights.
• With his third-period goal on Saturday, Mastrodonato has tallied goals in consecutive games for the first time his career.
• Sophomore Mitchell Martan picked up his seventh assist in the last six games with a helper on Mastodonato's third-period goal.
 
Up Next
• Canisius returns home next weekend to host Air Force in an Atlantic Hockey series at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
• The Griffs and Falcons start their two-game set Feb. 7 with a 7:35 p.m. puck drop before wrapping up their lone regular-season series the following afternoon with a 4:05 p.m. matinee.
• Tickets for both games are still available. They can be purchased by calling 716-888-TIXX or by visiting Ticketmaster.com.
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