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Canisius forward Alex Ambrosio is shown in game action versus Ferris State at LECOM Harborcenter on Oct. 30, 2021
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1
Canisius CAN 10-9-3, 7-6-2
1
Holy Cross HCR 5-15-2, 3-8-2
Canisius CAN
10-9-3, 7-6-2
1
Final
1
Holy Cross HCR
5-15-2, 3-8-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 OT 1 OT 2 F
Canisius CAN 0 0 1 0 0 1
Holy Cross HCR 0 0 1 0 0 1

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Picks up Extra Point in Defensive Battle Versus Holy Cross

Graduate student Alex Ambrosio scored the lone goal and junior Jacob Barczewski stopped 26 shots to pace Canisius in a 1-1 tie at Holy Cross in Atlantic Hockey Association action Friday at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass.
 
Ambrosio tallied his fifth goal of the season with a shorthanded effort in the third period to open the scoring as the Golden Griffins (10-9-3, 7-6-2 AHA) picked up the extra point thanks to junior Ryan Miotto's goal in the shootout.
 
Anthony Vincent recorded a power-play goal for the Crusaders (5-15-2, 3-8-2 AHA) while Matt Radomsky finished with 18 saves between the pipes for the home team.
 
In a defensive battle between the top two shot-blocking teams in Atlantic Hockey, the game remained in a scoreless deadlock until the final 10 minutes of the third period, when the teams' traded goals during a 72-second span.
 
Ambrosio began the sequence with a shorthanded goal at the 12:12 mark of the final frame, racing down the right side on a 2-on-1 break after creating a turnover at the top of the Griffs' defensive zone before firing a wrist shot past the glove of Radomsky to give the Griffs the lead.
 
Holy Cross answered back less than 80 seconds later during the same power play opportunity as Vincent put home a rebound from just off the left post to knot the score at 1-1.
 
The game would go to overtime and after five minutes of uninterrupted play at 4-on-4 during the extra session due to an expiring penalty, headed to a shootout.
 
Miotto was the lone player to score during the best-of-three shootout, beating Radomsky with a wrist shot to the glove side during Canisius' first attempt. Barczewski denied all three Holy Cross tries, including a sprawling glove save to turn aside Lucas Thorne's attempt.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"It was a really good, hard, competitive hockey game. Obviously a couple of late goals for each team. We get one shorthanded, they get a power-play goal. Then it goes into a shootout. That's really anybody's game, but Ryan Miotto scores a huge goal and Barzo (Jacob Barczewski) gets it done for us in the shootout. I thought he (Barczewski) played excellent all night. A big goal from (Alex) Ambrosio shorthanded to give us a lead. Obviously, I want us to finish off that game. I also want us to get a couple more goals so it gives us some breathing room. We controlled play for a good majority of the game, but that was two teams going toe-to-toe in a hard-fought hockey game. Overall, it's a good learning experience for our guys to understand what it is to play against a good hard hockey team on the road. We come away with two points, but we need to be better tomorrow to get three.
 
"We need our power play to be better. We get a couple of back-to-back power plays early in the game. It doesn't mean you have to score on every power play, that is not the point. But we need to chip in some goals from the power play. Those are our most skilled players and they play hard. But they got to start getting it done. I really liked how we were playing. We were playing hard day. We were checking. We were getting good offensive-zone time. We need to find a better way to get inside the opponent. We were on the perimeter tonight; we were not around their net enough. When you play like that, typically what happens is you may have some zone time but you don't get shots on net. You're not able to get some of those dirty goals that I would love our team to start getting. We need goals in different ways and that would be one of them. So, you take the game, you evaluate and get ready to re-attack tomorrow. I know we will have an emphasis on getting around the net more. Hopefully with that comes more production, but also at the same time, we need the same level of defense because we didn't give up much. They got a power play goal late but I really liked how our guys defended the entire game.
 
"What I like about it is typically, if you're scoring shorthanded goals, it means that your team is committed to blocking shots, specifically with your penalty killers. It happened tonight with Ambrosio. When you're able to block shots, show that extra effort and get some clears, sometimes those turn into 2-on-1 and I really like our skill and ability. We got a lot of guys that can finish. Ambrosio at the end of a good, hard, long PK shift comes up with a clear and a 2-on-1 and obviously finishes. So, I like our chances in odd-man rush scenarios, but a lot of our success in scoring while shorthanded comes from blocking shots."
 
Game Notes
• Friday's contest served as the 65th meeting between Canisius and Holy Cross in the Division I era of the series. The Griffs now trail the Crusaders 22-32-11 in the series, stretching their current unbeaten streak against the Crusaders to four games.
• The game was also as the first meeting between Canisius and Holy Cross since Dec. 29, 2019.
• Holy Cross out-shot Canisius by a 27-19 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 22-9 edge over the last two periods and overtime.
• Canisius was 0-for-5 on the power play while Holy Cross was 1-for-4 with the man advantage on Friday.  
• The Griffs finished with 21 blocked shots, recording 20 or more blocked shots in a game for the seventh time this season.
• The Griffs improved to 7-1-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the game.
• Canisius played its fifth overtime game of the season, moving to 1-1-3 in extra-session games this year. The Griffs also improved to 1-1 in shootouts.
• Ambrosio's shorthanded goal was the Griffs' sixth of the season, the most by any team in the nation this season. It was also his second shorthanded tally of the season, tying him with junior Keaton Mastrodonato for the team lead in that category.
• Ambrosio's tally was also the sixth unassisted goal for the Griffs this season.
 
Up Next
The teams complete their weekend series Saturday with a 5 p.m. contest at the Hart Center.
 
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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