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 skates with the puck towards the Air Force goal during game action at Cadet Ice Arena on Dec. 3, 2021
Paat Kelly/Air Force Athletics
2
Canisius CAN 8-7-1, 5-4-0
5
Winner Air Force AF 5-9-1, 3-5-1
Canisius CAN
8-7-1, 5-4-0
2
Final
5
Air Force AF
5-9-1, 3-5-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 1 1 0 2
Air Force AF 0 3 2 5

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Air Force Rallies to Beat Hockey

Air Force tallied three goals in a 5:02 span late in the second period to erase a two-goal deficit and defeat Canisius, 5-2, in Atlantic Hockey Association action Friday at the United States Air Force Academy's Cadet Ice Arena.
 
Andrew Kruse, Andrew DeCarlo and Luke Rowe scored during the pivotal second-period stretch for the Falcons (5-9-1, 3-5-1 AHA) while Willie Reim accounted for both third-period tallies as Air Force notched five unanswered goals to snap a three-game losing skid. Alex Schilling made 13 saves in goal.  
 
Junior Keaton Mastrodonato and sophomore Connor Zilisch scored for the Golden Griffins (8-7-1, 5-4-0 AHA). Junior goaltender Jacob Barczewski got the start and made 25 saves before being replaced by junior John Hawthorne in the third. Hawthorne finished the contest with 10 saves.
 
Trailing 2-0 midway through the contest, the Falcons came alive with a trio of tallies late in the second period to take the lead.
 
Kruse began the sequence with 13:09 elapsed in the second, deflecting a point shot past Barczewski from close range to make it a one-goal game.
 
The Falcons continued to push after Kruse's marker and were rewarded with a pair of tallies less than a minute apart to take the lead. DeCarlo scored his first career goal with 2:45 to play in the middle frame on a feed from Reim to tie the game at 2-2 before Rowe put Air Force in front with a power-play goal just 56 seconds later when his slap shot from the point found the back of the net.
 
Reim provided an insurance marker just before the eight-minute mark of the third, beating Hawthorne with a wrist shot the blocker side to make it a 4-2 contest. He added an empty-net tally with less than a minute remaining to determine the three-goal margin of victory.  
 
Earlier in the game, Mastrodonato gave Canisius a 1-0 lead at the 16:43 mark of the first when his centering feed from below the goal line deflected off an Air Force defender and across the goal line.
 
Zilisch doubled the Griffs advantage to 2-0 early in the second period when he fired a wrist shot over the left shoulder of Schilling from the middle of the slot for his first career tally, setting the stage for the Falcons comeback.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"That was not our game. We will remedy it and get ready for tomorrow. Momentum was a part of the game tonight. Our power play had some opportunities and we did get some scoring chances. I liked how we were playing the first half of the game and then, whether they got confident or we got tired, whatever that combo is it's irrelevant. We did not have enough. We got out-shot every period by a bunch. (Jacob) Barczewsi was playing well, but there's only so much he can do. Disappointed with the effort, but whether we win or lose, it's the same message. We rest up, we heal up, we recover and we get ready for tomorrow.
 
"Playing together with effort is the only path. If you're going to out-shoot, out-play and out-effort a team, it starts there. We need to play together. We need to have positive energy that allows us to go out and do those things. We need to get a buzz going where we're communicating confidently with each other. That was not our best effort tonight. The bright side is Connor Zilisch gets his first career goal on a great play, so credit to him on that. It gave us a 2-0 lead and we know that if we get in that situation again, we'll be better."
 
Game Notes
• Friday's game served as the 52nd meeting between Canisius and Air Force. The Falcons won their third straight in the series to extend their lead in the all-time series to 26-16-10.
• Air Force out-shot Canisius, 40-15, for the contest, highlighted by a 15-6 advantage in the third period. The 15 shots for the Griffs established a season-low for shots on goal for the second straight contest.
• Air Force was 2-for-5 on the power play on Friday while Canisius was 0-for-6 with the man advantage.
• Canisius suffered its first loss of the season when scoring first on Friday, moving to 6-1-0 in 2021-22 campaign when getting on the board first.
• The Griffs slipped to 0-7-0 this season when scoring two goals or fewer in a game.
• Zilisch became the 19th different Canisius player to score a goal this season. He is also the third Griff to notch his first collegiate tally during the 2021-22 season (Hudson Lambert, Jake Witkowski).
• Mastrodonato scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season with his first-period goal. He also stretched his team-leading point total to 19 (9g, 10a).
 
Up Next
The teams complete their weekend series Saturday with a 7 p.m. EST contest at Cadet Ice Arena.
 
For complete coverage of the Canisius hockey team, please follow the Griffs on social media at @GriffsHockey on Twitter and Instagram.
Print Friendly Version