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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius forward J.D. Pogue skates up the ice in game action versus RIT at LECOM Harborcenter on Feb. 13, 2021
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4
Winner Canisius CAN 1-0-0
1
Penn State PSU 2-1-0
Winner
Canisius CAN
1-0-0
4
Final
1
Penn State PSU
2-1-0
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 0 1 3 4
Penn State PSU 0 1 0 1

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Opens Season with 4-1 Victory at Penn State

Canisius scored three times in the third period to break a 1-1 tie and defeat Penn State, 4-1, in collegiate men's hockey action Friday at the Pegula Ice Arena in State College, Pa.
 
Senior J.D. Pogue tallied two goals and added an assist to pace the Golden Griffins (1-0-0). Senior Lee Lapid and junior Keaton Mastrodonato added individual markers while senior Mitchell Martan added two assists. Junior goaltender Jacob Barczewski made a career-high 39 saves between the pipes for the Blue and Gold.  
 
Kevin Wall accounted for the lone goal for the Nittany Lions (2-1-0) while Oskar Autio recorded 27 saves.
 
Following a scoreless first, Canisius took a 1-0 lead just 2:50 into the second when Pogue finished off a transition opportunity for the Griffs by putting home the puck from just off the left post.
 
The lead would be short-lived, however, as Penn State got on the board less than two minutes later when Wall put home a backdoor feed from Simon Mack to tie the game at 1-1.
 
Mastrodonato put the Griffs back in front at the 9:02 mark of the third, jamming home a centering feed from Martan at the top of the crease to make it a 2-1 contest.
 
Canisius doubled its advantage to 3-1 less than five minutes later as Pogue created a turnover deep in the Penn State zone before finding Lapid out front, where he beat Autio with a shot to the glove side.
 
Pogue closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal with a little more than two minutes remaining, finding the vacant Nittany Lions net from within the Canisius zone during a penalty kill situation.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"I felt coming into the weekend that we could really skate and that our work ethic was at a high level. I was very pleased to see that those things were true against a quality opponent. Penn State's a really good hockey team and our guys were able to skate and work like we did all game long. It took us until the third period to really start to pressure them a lot and get consistent offensive zone play, but tonight it required a lot from a lot of guys and I said it in the locker room postgame, we can look around the room and each guy had a big moment. Sometimes it was a backcheck, sometimes it was a block. Other times, it's a net drive or a big save by Barzo (Barczewski). It's all of those things. It required everybody. That's how you're going to win consistently. It is an extreme effort from everybody on your team. I couldn't be prouder of that effort tonight.
 
"We didn't stop in the third. Every line, every defensive pair. We went over the boards and we played the same way. We went out and then the next guy went out, the next guy went out and everybody understands how we want to play. They know what it takes. They know we got to skate. They know we're got to work. If Penn State got a little tired in the third, we did not. We sensed a little bit of that on the bench and our guys really started to push after that and that gets exciting, because the team that digs in and dictates the tempo typically wins a lot of hockey games. We want to be that team, so it was a great step for us today.
 
"J.D. was amazing tonight. It's his first game as captain and the first game of his senior year. You got that feeling he was locked in before the game and the fact that he got three points is very deserving. Because he was making plays. His effort was 100 percent every time his blades touched the ice. He was unbelievable on the penalty kill. I know one of his points was an empty netter, but he earned that one. It was an unbelievable skilled play on the first goal to go through his legs and score and that really got us some momentum that we tried to keep. But overall, you can't ask for a better start to a year for any player. J.D. was a monster tonight."
 
Game Notes
• Friday's game served as the fourth meeting between Canisius and Penn State, the third of which to take place at the Pegula Ice Arena. Canisius picked up its first win in the series with Friday's victory.
• The contest was the first for Canisius against a Big Ten opponent under fifth-year head coach Trevor Large and the first since the second game of its series at Penn State on Oct. 29, 2016.
• Penn State outshot Canisius, 40-31, for the contest. The Griffs held a 12-11 edge in shots taken during the third period.
• Both teams were 0-for-4 on the power play on Friday.
• Canisius improved to 40-18-5 under Large when scoring the first goal of the game. The Griffs also moved to 46-8-2 when scoring four or more goals in a game.
• Pogue's three points were a career high for the senior forward, breaking his previous personal best of two set against RIT on Feb. 12, 2021.
• Barczewski made a career-best 39 saves, shattering his previous personal best of 35, set on four prior occasions. 
• Martan recorded multiple assists in a game for the fourth time in his career and the first since RIT on Feb. 12, 2021
• Mastrodonato scored the fourth game-winning goal of his career and the third since the start of the 2020-21 season with his third-period tally on Friday.
• Graduate transfer Alex Ambrosio appeared in 100th career collegiate hockey game on Friday. He also recorded his first point in a Canisius uniform with an assist on Pogue's second-period tally.
 
Up Next
The teams complete their two-game series Saturday with a 1 p.m. puck drop at the Pegula Ice Arena.
 
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