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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius' Keaton Mastrodonato scores on Kolby Matthews during the Griffs' matchup with RIT at LECOM Harborcenter on Feb. 12, 2021
Lindy Feider
3
RIT RIT 7-6-2
5
Winner Canisius CAN 5-2-0
RIT RIT
7-6-2
3
Final
5
Canisius CAN
5-2-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
RIT RIT 1 1 1 3
Canisius CAN 1 3 1 5

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Opens Homestand with 5-3 Victory over RIT

Junior J.D. Pogue tallied two goals and classmate Mitchell Martan chipped in a goal and two assists to pace Canisius in a 5-3 victory over RIT In Atlantic Hockey Association action Friday at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
 
Pogue scored twice during the second period while Martan notched two assists during the middle frame before capping his evening with an insurance marker late in the third for the Golden Griffins (5-2-0, 5-2-0 AHA). Sophomore Keaton Mastrodonato added his team-leading fifth of the season and junior Kevin Obssuth opened the scoring with his first of the campaign to account for the other two Canisius tallies.
 
Caleb Moritz notched the first two goals and Alden Dupuis added a third late in regulation for the visiting Tigers (7-6-2, 5-4-1 AHA).
 
Obssuth gave Canisius a 1-0 lead at the 9:46 mark of the first period, beating RIT goaltender Kolby Matthews with a wrist shot to the blocker side during a 2-on-1 break.
 
Moretz answered for the Tigers a little more than three minutes later, depositing a feed from Regan Seiferling under the pads of Canisius junior goaltender Matt Ladd from the middle of the slot.
 
Mastrodonato restored the Canisius lead just after the six-minute mark of the second, beating Matthews on the break for his team-leading fifth goal of the campaign.
 
Pogue notched his first of two goals in the middle frame just past the midway point of the contest with a power-play marker, knocking home a loose puck from the top of the crease to give the Griffs a 3-1 edge.
 
Moretz netted his second of the contest just 81 seconds after Pogue's power-play marker to pull the Tigers back within one as he fired home his own rebound from the right faceoff circle to make it a 3-2 contest.
 
Pogue counted for Canisius at the 15:02 mark of the second, cleaning up Martan's rebound to give the Griffs a 4-2 advantage heading into the third.
 
The teams traded goals in the final three minutes of third as Martan stretched the Canisius margin to 5-2 with a wrist shot over the glove of Matthews from the middle of the slot at the 17:02 mark of the third before Dupois deflected a point shot past Ladd in the final minute to determine the two-goal margin.
 
Ladd recorded 24 saves in goal for Canisius while Matthews finished with 30 stops between the pipes for RIT.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"Proud of the effort tonight. Anytime you can get three points in Atlantic Hockey, that's a huge bump to the team effort. It was a slow start. We got back into the game maybe a little quicker than we have been. Obviously, that's understandable with the number of games for us played. But, I really loved the effort in the second period and that carried over into the third. We were extremely strong in the third period. We got scoring all over our lineup. You're going to win a lot of games anytime you score five goals in a hockey game. Chances are your top players are producing, which we did tonight and we got scoring from our depth as well. J.D. Pogue was spectacular. The goal Mitchell Martan scored in the third period was a huge moment in the game as well. Ladder (Matt Ladd) was strong in net for us again. So, a full team win and excited to get back out and play again tomorrow.
 
"We want to build on playing together. That's when we're really at our best. There was probably a five or six-shift stretch in the third period where that was our best all season in terms of being able to play together. When I think about the full potential of our team, that's what it looks like. It was that moment, probably about halfway through the third period. Room for improvement for us is to start a game with, I don't want to say more energy, I don't know if that's it, but just have us dialed in, so that our starts can get a little bit better. We need to check at the beginning of games. When we check, play together and work as hard as we can as individuals, that's our full potential. So, in terms of building, those are the things we're trying to build upon. We're also trying to put wins together. I've said this a few times this year, we don't play to play, we play to win. So, the most important thing is building on those three points."
 
Game Notes
• Canisius halted a three-game losing skid to RIT with Friday's victory. The Griffs also improved to 4-2-1 in last seven contests against the Tigers at LECOM Harborcenter with Friday's win.  
• Canisius out-shot RIT by a 35-27 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 9-4 advantage in the third.
• The Griffs were 1-for-4 on the power play while the Tigers were 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
• Canisius improved to 2-1-0 this season and 26-8-2 under Large when scoring four or more goals in a game.
• The Griffs moved to 4-0-0 this season when scoring first and when leading after two periods with Friday's victory.
• Martan established a career high with his three-point effort on Friday. His two assists also matched a personal best.
• Pogue tallied multiple points in a game for the first time in his career with his two-goal effort on Friday.
• Senior Matt Long and sophomore Ryan Miotto both tallied multiple assists for the first time in their respective careers with their two-assist performances on Friday.
• Freshman forward Niclas Puikkonen picked up his first career point with an assist on Obssuth's first-period tally.
 
Up Next
• The teams complete their two-game league series Saturday with a 7 p.m. contest at LECOM Harborcenter.
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