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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius forwards Mitchell Martan (left), Keaton Mastrodonato and Simon Gravel skate by the Griffs' bench after scoring a goal against Mercyhurst on Jan. 2, 2021 at LECOM Harborcenter
Lindy Feider
2
Mercyhurst MER-M 2-4-1
3
Winner Canisius CAN 2-1-0
Mercyhurst MER-M
2-4-1
2
Final
3
Canisius CAN
2-1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Mercyhurst MER-M 1 0 1 2
Canisius CAN 0 0 3 3

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Third-Period Surge Sends Hockey Past Mercyhurst in Home Opener

Canisius tallied three goals in the third period to rally from a one-goal deficit and post a 3-2 victory over Mercyhurst in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo. 
 
Juniors Lee Lapid and Mitchell Martan and sophomore Keaton Mastrodonato all found the back of the net during the final frame for the Golden Griffins (2-1-0, 2-0-1 AHA), who were victorious in their return to the ice for the first time in more than a month due to COVID-19 protocols.
 
Steven Ipri accounted for both goals for the visiting Lakers (2-4-1, 1-1-1 AHA) while Carson Briere and Joseph Maziarz assisted on both of Ipri's tallies. 
 
Trailing 1-0 at the start of the third, Lapid tied the game at the 4:12 mark of the frame with his first of the campaign, collecting a feed from freshman Cooper Haar in the neutral zone and racing down the left side before beating Lakers goaltender Hank Johnson with a snap shot to the blocker side.
 
Mastrodonato gave the Griffs the lead a little less than 10 minutes later, deflecting a clearing attempt from a Mercyhurst defenseman at the blue line before collecting the puck and sliding it between Johnson's legs from the middle of the slot to make it a 2-1 contest.
 
Martan provided what proved to be a much-needed insurance marker with less than two minutes remaining in regulation as he put home a centering feed from Mastrodonato from the top of the crease to give Canisius a 3-1 cushion.
 
Ipri pulled the Lakers within one in the final seconds as his wrist shot from the point found its way through traffic and into the Canisius cage to determine the final margin.  
 
Earlier in the contest, Mercyhurst jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the opening shift of the contest as Ipri slid a wraparound effort past Canisius junior goaltender Matt Ladd and inside the right post for his second of the season.  
 
Ladd recorded 21 saves in goal for Canisius while Johnson stopped 22 shots between the pipes for the Lakers.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"Tonight was the first time we have played a game in a while. We were battling to find our game all night. Obviously, the win is ultra-important. It's ultra-important every year, but maybe this year it's even more important with the number of games that we're trying to get in. I've said this line to the guys a few times this season, we don't play to play, we play to win. First home game the year, down going into the third period, the guys went to work and were able to secure three points.
 
"Not much changed in the third. At moments throughout the game we were strong, we were the aggressor and able to get in on the forecheck. What changed were some individual efforts; Lee Lapid scores a great goal off a nice pass from Cooper Haar to spring him there so we can get into a one-on-one situation with the goaltender and Lee finished it. I was also really proud of the (Simon) Gravel, (Mitchell) Martin and (Keaton) Mastrodonato line getting that third goal. They were fighting it all night and then they were able to get in on a forecheck and it's a new goalie for Mercyhurst. He's solid, so we needed second and third-chance opportunities. Overall, not much changed in the third other than we finished on some nice plays and we're able to get some quality scoring chances that we didn't have in the first or second.
 
"Our effort was there tonight. At times we looked rusty and tired, which makes sense, but no coach wants their team to be rusty and tired after a long time off, but we were. We talked about adding some desperation into our game in the third period because we were down 1-0,
so we needed some desperation, we needed some effort in skating, we needed some effort and some big blocked shots. Our guys were unbelievable in committing to blocking shots, going down and doing what it takes to win a hockey game. Whenever you're up late in a game, you're always going find energy, we were able to do that again tonight. So, the goal for the rest of season and every game we're going to play is let's be up in a game, and when we look up at the clock and there's five minutes left, we've got all kinds of energy on our bench, because we're going to do whatever it takes to win."
 
Game Notes
• Saturday's game served as the 95th all-time meeting between Canisius and Mercyhurst. The Griffs picked up their third straight victory in the series as they moved to 31-33-10 against the Lakers in the Division I era of the series.
• Canisius out-shot Mercyhurst by a 25-23 margin on Saturday, highlighted by an 8-4 margin in the second period.
• Neither team scored on the power play as both teams were 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
• The Griffs improved to 1-1 this season in one-goal games with Saturday's victory.
• Mastrodonato recorded multiple points in a game for the first time this season and the fourth time in his career.
• Martan's game-winning goal was the first of his collegiate career.
• With his assist on Lapid's goal, Haar is now tied with junior Derek Hamelin for the team lead with three assists.
• Sophomore Simon Gravel picked up an assist on Martan's game-winning goal, giving him points in seven of his last eight games played, dating back to the 2019-20 season.
 
Up Next
• The teams complete their two-game series Sunday with a 3 p.m. contest at the Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa.
 
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