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Canisius University Athletics

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Matt Hoover battles with AIC's Hugo Reinhardt on Feb. 14, 2020 at the LECOM HarborCenter
Dean Bogart
4
Winner American Int'l AIC 17-11-1, 17-5-1 AHA
1
Canisius CAN 8-16-5, 7-11-5 AHA
Winner
American Int'l AIC
17-11-1, 17-5-1 AHA
4
Final
1
Canisius CAN
8-16-5, 7-11-5 AHA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
American Int'l AIC 0 1 3 4
Canisius CAN 0 1 0 1

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Third-Period Surge Lifts AIC Past Hockey

League-leading AIC scored three special-team goals in the third period to break a 1-1 tie and defeat Canisius, 4-1, in Atlantic Hockey action Friday at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
 
Hugo Reinhardt scored two goals while senior Blake Christensen added a goal and two assists and Tobias Fladeby pitched in a goal and an assist for Yellow Jackets (17-11-1, 17-5-1-0 AHA), who extended the nation's longest winning streak to eight games with the victory.
 
Freshman Keaton Mastrodonato recorded his third shorthanded goal of the season for the Golden Griffins (8-16-5, 7-11-5-3 AHA).
 
Following a scoreless first, Christensen gave AIC a 1-0 lead just 70 seconds into the middle frame, jamming home a loose puck from just off the left post after Fladeby's initial attempt from the left point was stopped by Canisius goaltender Jacob Barczewski.
 
Mastrodonato tied the game at 1-1 with less than 10 seconds remaining in the second period, collecting a feed from junior Matt Long in the neutral zone and racing past the AIC defense before beating AIC goaltender Stefano Durante with backhand to the glove side.
 
Fladeby restored the Yellow Jackets lead with a power-play goal during the opening minute of the third, tapping home Martin Mellburg's backdoor feed to make it a 2-1 game.
 
Reinhardt put the contest out of reach with a pair of goals during the later stages of the third, netting a power-play tally at the 14:56 mark of the frame when he beat Barczewski with a shot from the middle of the slot before closing out the scoring in the final minute of the game with an empty-net goal while AIC was shorthanded.
 
Barczewski made 29 saves in goal for Canisius while Durante finished with 22 stops between the pipes for AIC.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"We got beat by a better team. We have that feeling of disappointment tonight. We needed more guys to compete from the beginning of the game until the end. We didn't have that tonight. You're not going to beat a championship team without guys playing strong and committed to doing all the things that are necessary to beat a quality opponent.
 
"We wanted to find out what we can do against a top team in our league and we learned a lesson tonight. We're not ready to beat them. We weren't ready to beat them tonight. It's a quick refocus from us and we need everybody. We're going to have to find a way to be a lot better tomorrow if we want to give ourselves a chance.
 
"There was some frustration in some of the calls tonight. On the bench I was trying to read my team and I felt they were frustrated by some of them. But the fact is that if you're going to reach and you're going to hook, you might accidentally trip somebody, it's still a trip, you're still going to the box. I didn't love our demeanor. When it was time to face adversity, whether it was calls that we didn't think were proper or being on that penalty kill back to back to back it's really hard to win a game. There were some positives in it. We killed a 5-on-3. We got some momentum, we get a short-handed goal to put us at 1-1 going into third, But, then we don't remedy it. We come out and we didn't get enough power plays. We were short-handed too much. You can't claw back in a game if you're going to put a great team on the power play."
 
Game Notes
• Friday's contest served as the 67th meeting between Canisius and AIC. The Yellow Jackets picked up their fourth straight victory in the series with their win on Friday.
• AIC out-shot Canisius by a 33-23 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 22-11 edge over the first two periods.
• The Yellow Jackets were 2-for-7 on the power play while Canisius was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
• Canisius was held to a single goal for a second straight contest and just the third time in the last 15 games.
• Mastrodonato's shorthanded goal was his third of the season, equaling five other players for the most in a single season by a Canisius player during the Division I era of the program. His three shorthanded tallies also have him part of a six-way tie for first nationally in that category.
 
Up Next
• The teams conclude their series Saturday with a 4:05 p.m. contest at LECOM Harborcenter.
• The contest will serve as Senior Day, with Canisius honoring its seven-senior student-athletes in a ceremony prior to the start of the contest.
• Tickets for the game are still available. They can be purchased by calling 716-888-TIXX or by visiting Ticketmaster.com.  
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