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Canisius University Athletics

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Members of the Canisius hockey team celebrate a goal during game action against Sacred Heart at LECOM Harborcenter on Feb. 18, 2022
Lindy Feider
1
Sacred Heart SHU 13-15-3, 10-11-2
3
Winner Canisius CAN 15-12-3, 12-9-2
Sacred Heart SHU
13-15-3, 10-11-2
1
Final
3
Canisius CAN
15-12-3, 12-9-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Sacred Heart SHU 1 0 0 1
Canisius CAN 2 0 1 3

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Rallies from Early Deficit to Defeat Pioneers

Canisius scored three unanswered goals to erase an early 1-0 deficit and defeat Sacred Heart, 3-1, in Atlantic Hockey Association action Friday at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
 
Junior Keaton Mastrodonato, sophomore Max Kouznetsov and junior Ryan Miotto scored for the Golden Griffins (15-12-3, 12-9-2 AHA). Junior goaltender John Hawthorne made a career-high 38 saves to pick up his third win of the season.  
 
John Jaworski tallied the lone goal for the Pioneers (13-15-3, 10-11-2 AHA) while goaltender Justin Robbins made 18 saves.
 
Jaworski staked Sacred Heart to a 1-0 lead just 1:59 into the contest when he snuck a wrist shot past Hawthorne from the bottom of the right face-off circle for his eighth of the campaign.
 
Mastrodonato brought the Griffs level just past the midway point in the first period, deflecting senior Mitchell Martan's pass past Robbins from the middle of the slot to tie the game at 1-1.
 
Kouznetsov gave Canisius a 2-1 lead a little more than five minutes later, redirecting a wrist shot from junior David Melaragni between the legs of Robbins from in the top of the crease for his 11th goal of the season.
 
Following a scoreless second, Miotto notched an insurance marker for the Griffs with less than seven minutes to play in regulation, racing down the left side on a 2-on-1 break before firing a wrist shot past the glove of Robbins to make it a 3-1 game.
 
Head Coach Trevor Large's Postgame Comments
"It was a big win for us. Sacred Heart is a really good team. Obviously, if you look at the shot total and possession time, they had the edge on us tonight. But we found a way to win. It took everybody. Our third period was really good. John Hawthorne was great in net. Ryan Miotto's goal in the third period to put us up 3-1 was a really good play and obviously a huge goal. A big three points.
 
"Deciding to go with Hawthorne tonight was one of the easier decisions that I've had this season. He's proven to us every day how good he is. (Jacob) Barczewski has gotten the majority of the games this season and he's one of the best goaltenders in this conference and Hawthorne is right behind him and that may be our secret. But, as Hawthorne has been able to get in some games and get some quality starts, everybody on our team is not surprised. I don't think anybody in our locker room was surprised that we went with him again tonight. He was really good at Niagara. We really made that decision after that weekend. There's not an evaluation that's required during the week. It was a pretty easy decision to go with Hawthorne again tonight and he proved me right.
 
"I'm sure when we watch the game film back, we'll see what everybody in the rink saw, which was that Sacred Heart had the majority of the play. But we just talked about it as a staff; it was a credit to us for the fact that even though Sacred Heart had possession a lot, we were not reaching or taking penalties. They're trying to build momentum and they're gaining some from their play, but we didn't put them on the power play. Any power play that they got tonight, we did a really good job on the penalty kill. That has been a big focus of ours. But our discipline was needed tonight. Our guys were unbelievable in that area. In a game that Sacred Heart had the best of us in terms of the play, we didn't let the guys in black and white have to put us in the box and give Sacred Heart any additional momentum."
 
Game Notes
• Friday's contest served as the 64th meeting between Canisius and Sacred Heart. The Griffs improved to 32-23-9 all-time against the Pioneers as they extended their current unbeaten streak in the series to six games (4-0-2).  
• Sacred Heart out-shot Canisius, 39-21, in the contest, highlighted by a 24-12 advantage over the final two periods.
• Neither team scored on the power play as Sacred Heart was 0-for-2 and Canisius was 0-for-1 with the man advantage.
• The Griffs improved to 11-1-1 this season when allowing two goals or fewer in a contest.
• Canisius moved to 10-1-0 in 2021-22 when leading after 40 minutes.
• Mastrodonato and Kouznetsov are now tied with graduate student Austin Alger for the team lead with 11 goals after both scored on Friday.
• Miotto scored for the second straight contest with his third-period tally.
• Hawthorne established a career high with his 38-save effort on Friday, surpassing his previous personal best of 37, set against Clarkson on Oct. 19. Hawthorne has made 30 or more saves in all five of his starts this season.
 
Up Next
The teams complete their weekend series Saturday with a 7 p.m. contest at LECOM Harborcenter.
 
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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