Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Canisius forward Keaton Mastrodonato stickhandles the puck during game action against Niagara at LECOM Harborcenter on Feb. 26, 2021
www.tomwolf.smugmug.com
2
Canisius CAN 1-1-0
5
Winner Penn State PSU 3-1-0
Canisius CAN
1-1-0
2
Final
5
Penn State PSU
3-1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 0 0 2 2
Penn State PSU 1 1 3 5

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Defeated by Penn State in Series Finale

Penn State scored early in each period to post a 5-2 victory over Canisius in collegiate men's hockey action Saturday at the Pegula Ice Center in State College, Pa.
 
Connor MacEachern scored twice while Danny Dzhaniyev, Christian Sarlo and Tyler Gratton added individual tallies for the Nittany Lions (3-1-0). Liam Souliere made 36 saves between the pipes for Penn State.
 
Junior Keaton Mastrodonato and sophomore Max Kouznetsov scored the two goals for the Golden Griffins (1-1-0). Senior goaltender Matt Ladd made 39 saves for the Blue and Gold in his season debut.
 
Dzhaniyev opened the scoring just 2:30 into the contest, making his way around a Canisius defenseman on the rush before pushing the puck past Ladd to give Penn State an early lead.
 
The Nittany Lions doubled their advantage to 2-0 less than a minute into the second when MacEachern wired a wrist shot from the top of the circles though traffic and over the glove of Ladd during 4-on-4 play.
 
Sarlo stretched the Penn State advantage to 3-0 at the 3:06 mark of the third, using a Canisius defender as a screen while on the rush to fire a wrist shot over the glove of Ladd from the top of the right faceoff circle.
 
Mastrodonato got Canisius on the board at the 10:38 mark of the third with a shorthanded tally, streaking down the right side before beating Souliere with a shot inside the left post to make it a 3-1 contest.
 
Gratton restored Penn State's three-goal edge less than a minute after Mastrodonato's strike with a power-play goal, backhanding a loose puck into the upper right-hand corner of the net from the middle of the slot.  
 
Kouznetsov once again brought the Griffs within two when his shot from the right sidewall deflected off a Penn State defender and into the goal, making it a 4-2 contest with 4:42 remaining.
 
That would be as close as Canisius would get, as MacEachern closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final minute of regulation to determine the three-goal margin.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"We did not have enough effort from our guys today. It's inexcusable. To have an effort like we had on Friday night and come back with that is not enough. We didn't come here for three points, we came for six and we're definitely not happy or satisfied, leaving the way we are. We have work to do and we'll get back to work on Monday.

"We don't look at shots on net. It's a stat that's not indicative of play. Shot on net are a very small factor for us. That's just not our mentality, that's not the way we play. If we have three shots on net and they have 100, we'd better win 3-1, 3-2 or 3-0. That's our focus. Our guys know that and we'll remedy what we have to, but it's not generating more shots on net.
 
"The power play's job is to do two things: score and build momentum. We're watching our power play very closely. We are building momentum with our power play. We are getting good movement; good positioning and we're seeing good shifts that follow the power play. Every guy that is on our power play would say the same thing, however, that we need to score. That's why they're out there. They did not do that tonight and it was a factor in a loss."
 
Game Notes
• Penn State outshot Canisius by a 44-38 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 19-12 edge in the second period.
• Canisius was 0-for-6 on the power play while Penn State was 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
• Canisius surrendered 40 or more shots against for the first time since allowing 40 shots against in the series finale at North Dakota on Oct. 11, 2019.
• Mastrodonato recorded the fourth shorthanded goal of his career with his third-period tally on Saturday.
• Mastrodonato has scored in consecutive games for the fourth time in his career as he found the back of the net during both games of the series.
• Sophomore Randy Hernandez picked up his first point as a Golden Griffin with an assist on Kouznetsov's third-period goal.
• Ladd recorded 30 or more saves in a game for the 14th time in his career with his 39-save effort on Saturday.
 
Up Next
• Canisius continues its season-opening road swing Oct. 15-16 with a two-game series versus ECAC Hockey opponent RPI.
• Puck drop for both games at Houston Field House in Troy, N.Y., is slated for 7 p.m.
Print Friendly Version