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Canisius University Athletics

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Grant Meyer skates the puck up ice during Canisius' matchup versus Robert Morris at the LECOM Harborcenter on Feb. 22, 2020
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2
Canisius CAN 3-2-0
3
Winner RIT RIT 6-4-2
Canisius CAN
3-2-0
2
Final
3
RIT RIT
6-4-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 0 2 0 2
RIT RIT 3 0 0 3

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Edged by RIT, 3-2

RIT scored three times in the first period as it posted a 3-2 victory over Canisius in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y.
 
In the first of three straight games between the two conference foes, the Tigers (6-4-2, 4-2-1 AHA) used goals from Will Calverley, Andrew Petrucci and Caleb Moretz during the opening 18:36 of the contest and a 20-save performance from netminder Logan Drackett to secure its second consecutive victory.
 
Playing their first game since Jan. 3, freshmen Jami Virtanen and Max Kouznetsov tallied the two goals for the Golden Griffins (3-2-0, 3-2-0 AHA). Junior goaltender Matt Ladd made 36 saves between the pipes for the Blue and Gold.  
 
Calverley staked RIT to an 1-0 lead just 1:09 into the contest when he deflected a wrist shot past Ladd for his league-leading 10th goal of the campaign.
 
The Tigers stretched their lead to 3-0 with a pair of tallies exactly two minutes apart later in the opening frame. Petrucci began the sequence at the 16:47 mark of the first, burying a rebound from just off the left post while Moretz struck for a power-play tally with 1:24 remaining to build a three-goal cushion.
 
Canisius got back into the contest early in the second, scoring twice in a 1:51 span to make it a one-goal game. Virtanen got the Griffs on the board when he jammed home a loose puck for a power-play marker at the 3:47 mark of the middle frame before Kouznetsov found the back of the net moments later on a 2-on-0 break to trim the deficit to 3-2.  
 
That would be as close as Canisius would get, however, as Drackett and the Tigers kept the Griffs off the board the rest of the way to secure the one-goal triumph.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"Obviously that was not the start that that we were looking for tonight. There are lots of excuses that we could use, with trying to get the rust off of not playing a hockey game for the past few weeks. But they were better than us in the first period. Once we scored our first goal, it seemed like we started to play and started to move better and our timing got a lot better as the game went on and then we kind of ran out of steam late in the third period trying to get things tied up. I'm proud of the effort, but it's not good enough. We need to get better and this is a game where it stings. We're going to let it fester and make us better for tomorrow.
 
"They spread us out during the first period. Their timing was very good. They were passing the puck well. It seemed like when the puck was on our stick, maybe it was jumping around a little bit. I just think about timing. Their timing was good and ours was not. When we thought we had pressure on us, we had more time. When we thought we had time, all of a sudden, there's a guy that we didn't see. So, it's a combination of them being able to play games and us not and it took us a period to get that under our belts. That's expected, but disappointing at the same time. We have to make sure that the rust is off, so we get ready for a great game at home tomorrow.
 
"The focus is not on any opponent that we're going to play, it's always internal. Our motivation is to be great at our game and for the first period tonight we didn't have that. We know it's three games in four days. We say this a lot in our culture and in our locker room, it doesn't matter who we play, when we play, where we play. We know we have to play fast; we have to play together; we need to communicate more. That'll help with our timing and we need our discipline to be a little bit better. For a team that is trying to find their timing, being shorthanded for a good chunk of the game is not a good recipe for success. We want to play five-on-five. that'll help us. We need to stay out of the penalty box and get better for a game tomorrow against a team that we know very well."
 
Game Notes
• Canisius moved to 5-5-1 against RIT at the Gene Polisseni Center with Saturday's setback. The Griffs are winless in their last three visits, taking back to last season (0-2-1).  
• RIT out-shot Canisius by a 39-22 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 15-4 advantage in the first period.
• RIT was 1-for-6 on the power play while Canisius was 1-for-3 with the man advantage. The Tigers' goal on the power play came during a five-minute major.
• Canisius moved to 1-2 in one-goal games this season as both of the Griffs' losses have been by a single goal.
• Kouznetsov recorded multiple points in a game for the first time in his career as he also drew the secondary assist on Virtanen's second-period marker.
• Virtanen recorded his second goal of the season on Saturday, both of which have come on the power play.
• Senior Grant Meyer recorded the primary assist on Virtanen's second-period goal, moving him into a tie for the team lead in assists this season (3).
 
Up Next
• The teams complete their season series with a pair of contests at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo on Sunday and Tuesday.
• Start times for both contests are slated for 7 p.m.
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