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Canisius forward Daniel DiGrande skates with the puck in the offensive zone during the Griffs' matchup with Ferris State at LECOM Harborcenter on Oct. 30, 2021
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6
Winner Canisius CAN 4-4-1, 1-1-0
3
Bentley BEN 4-5-0, 2-2-0
Winner
Canisius CAN
4-4-1, 1-1-0
6
Final
3
Bentley BEN
4-5-0, 2-2-0
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 3 1 2 6
Bentley BEN 0 2 1 3

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Offense Sparks Hockey to Win at Bentley

Canisius scored three goals in the first period on its way to a 6-3 victory over Bentley in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday at Bentley Arena in Waltham, Mass.
 
Graduate student Austin Alger, senior Lee Lapid and junior Keaton Mastrdonato tallied a goal and two assists each to pace the potent Golden Griffins (4-4-1, 1-1-0 AHA) attack. Junior Daniel DiGrande scored two goals while graduate student Alex Ambrosio added an individual tally. Junior goaltender Jacob Barczewski finished with 23 saves between the pipes for Canisius.
 
Drew Bavaro, Matt Lombardozzi and Dylan Pitera notched the three goals for the host Falcons (4-5-0, 2-2-0 AHA).
 
Mastrodonato gave Canisius a 1-0 lead just 31 seconds into the contest when his wrist shot from the point found its way past the glove of Bentley goaltender Jason Grande.
 
Ambrosio doubled the Griffs advantage to 2-0 at the 14:40 mark of the first, stuffing home a loose buck from just in front of the Falcons goal for his first tally in Blue and Gold.
 
Lapid closed out the first period barrage less than three minutes later, depositing a rebound into the Bentley cage during the final seconds of a 5-on-3 power-play opportunity to make it a 3-0 contest.
 
The teams traded goals during a Canisius power-play opportunity early in the second period.
 
Bavaro got Bentley on the board 1:23 into the middle frame, beating Barczewski with a wrist shot to the blocker side on a shorthanded rush.
 
Alger answered back for Canisius, firing a wrist shot between the legs of Grande from the middle of the slot just before the man advantage expired to put the Griffs back in front by three, 4-1.
 
Lombardozzi once again pulled the Falcons within two as he recorded his second power-play goal of the weekend, firing a wrist shot from the top of the point that went between the legs of Barczewski to trim the Bentley deficit.
 
DiGrande restored the Griffs three-goal cushion less than two minutes into the third, entering the right side of the Bentley zone before firing a beating Grande to the short side for his first goal of the season.
 
Pitera pulled the Falcons within two for the third time in the contest, sneaking a shot under the left arm of Barczewski exactly two minutes after DiGrande's marker to make it a 5-3 contest.
 
DiGrande closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1:29 remaining to determine the three-goal margin of victory.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"It was a much better compete level from our guys tonight. Early in the game, if you look at all of the statistics, we were on them. Our guys would not be denied tonight. Extremely proud of the response in terms of on the road against a good team and a tough place to play with a quick turnaround. We found something tonight. I'm proud of this group and excited to see if what we found will continue.
 
"We talked about keeping the fight closer. It definitely helped our team tonight. What we found is, we need to keep the fight really close. It starts with the faceoff and getting possession of the puck early in a shift and what that means to a line. Generating shots on net and scoring chances early and often in a game as well. It was great to see that come to fruition. There was a refocus on discipline as well. There was not a lot of penalties called tonight. It was a good, hard, clean hockey game. They were 1-for-2 on the powerplay. If we keep teams to two power plays, that's a good recipe. But what we learned is to keep the fight very close and very short; quickly reset and move on to the next challenge.
 
"Depth is really important. You look at the goal scorers. Mastrodonato, Ambrosio and Lapid started us off early. Alton McDermott gets his first point in his third collegiate game. Ambrosio gets his first goal and your top line gets you a couple. Austin Alger gets one on the power play. That was obviously important, because we had just let in a shorthand goal and then we made up for it by getting it done on the power play to make it 4-1. All really good signs. Then Danny DiGrande, I saw him pull the monkey off his back in the game and that's good for our team. That's good for Digs. He gets one there with a great shot in a big moment in the game, and then he gets another empty netter. So, it does require a lot from everybody. Winning is not easy. Winning is hard. Our guys now understand what it takes. That was close to a complete game, but we're not there yet. We had some moments where we should have been better. But overall, this is what it requires to win in our conference."
 
Game Notes
• Canisius picked up its first win in eight tries at Bentley Arena with Saturday's win. The Griffs were 0-5-2 at the facility prior to the victory.
• Canisius out-shot Bentley, 32-26, for the contest, highlighted by a 16-3 advantage in the first period.
• The Griffs were 2-for-4 on the power play while Bentley was 1-for-2 with the man advantage.
• The six goals scored by Canisius established a season high, surpassing its previous best of four, set on three prior occasions.
• Alger matched his career high with his three-point performance on Saturday, (Feb. 1, 2019 at Mercyhurst).
• Alger also scored his first game-winning goal of the season and the third of his career with his second-period goal on Saturday.
• DiGrande recorded multiple goals and multiple points in a game for the first time in his career with his two goals on Saturday.
• Freshman Alton McDermott picked up his first collegiate point with an assist on Ambrosio's first-period goal. He is the first Canisius rookie to record a point this season.
• Lapid established a career high with his three-point outing on Saturday. He had recorded multiple points in a game on nine previous occasions in his career.
• Mastrodonato matched his caeer high with this three-point performance on Saturday (March 13, 2021 vs RIT).
 
Up Next
• Canisius begins a stretch that will see it play five of its next six game at home next weekend as it welcomes RIT to LECOM Harborcenter
• The series opener between the Griffs and Tigers is slated for a 6 p.m. start on Nov. 12. The finale is scheduled for a 4 p.m. puck drop the following afternoon.  
 
For complete coverage of the Canisius hockey team, please follow the Griffs on social media at @GriffsHockey on Twitter and Instagram.
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