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Canisius University Athletics

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Members of the Canisius hockey team celebrate a goal during the Griffs' 6-3 victory over Mercyhurst at LECOM Harborcenter on Oct. 22, 2024
Lindy Feider
3
Mercyhurst MCY 1-6-0, 1-2-0
6
Winner Canisius CAN 1-4-0, 1-0-0
Mercyhurst MCY
1-6-0, 1-2-0
3
Final
6
Canisius CAN
1-4-0, 1-0-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Mercyhurst MCY 0 2 1 3
Canisius CAN 1 3 2 6

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Starts League Play with Victory over Mercyhurst

Sophomore Matteo Giampa notched five points to pace Canisius in a 6-3 victory over Mercyhurst in Atlantic Hockey America action Tuesday at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
 
Giampa tallied a goal and added a career-high four assists to help lead the Golden Griffins (1-4-0, 1-0-0 AHA) to their first victory of the season in their AHA debut. Graduate student Cody Schiavon, junior Grant Porter, senior Matt Vermaeten and sophomores Trey Funk and Jack Budd also scored for Canisius while junior Kash Rasmussen dished out two assists.
 
Mickey Burns scored twice while Riley Fitzgerald accounted for the third goal for the Lakers (1-6-0, 1-2-0 AHA).
 
Schiavon staked Canisius to a 1-0 lead just before the 12-minute mark of the first period, firing home a slap shot from the top of the point for his first goal of the season. Giampa doubled the Griffs lead to 2-0 at the 5:47 mark of the second period, darting into the Mercyhurst zone before wiring a shot over the right shoulder of Simon Bucheler for his first of the campaign. The Lakers answered right back, scoring on consecutive shifts to knot the score at 2-2. Burns got Mercyhurst on the board just 43 seconds after Giampa's tally, flipping the puck over the shoulder of Canisius goaltender Ethan Robertson while on the rush.
 
Fitzgerald brought Mercyhurst level with 7:30 elapsed in the middle frame, finishing off a 2-on-1 rush for his fourth of the campaign.
 
The Griffs retook the lead late in the second period a with a pair of goals in a 76-second span. Porter netted a power-play goal with 16:03 elapsed in the frame while Vermaeten made it a two-goal game just moments later with his second goal of the campaign on a feed from Rasmussen. Funk pushed the Canisius advantage to 5-2 moments before the midway point of the third, finishing off a Griffs zone entry with a shot from just above the goal line for his second of the season. A power-play tally from Burns with under three minutes to play in the third made it a two-goal contest once again, but Budd closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal with 17 seconds to play to determine the three-goal margin of victory.

Robertson finished with 22 saves for the Griffs to earn his first victory of the season while Bucheler made 32 stops between the pipes for the Lakers. 
 
POSTGAME COMMENTS GAME NOTES
• Canisius outshot Mercyhurst by a 35-25 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 28-18 edge over the final two periods.
• Both teams converted on their only power play opportunities of the contest as there were a total of two minor penalties called during the contest.
• Canisius improved to 43-2-2 under head coach Trevor Large when scoring five-or-more goals in a contest.
• The Griffs moved to 76-15-10 during the Large era when holding the opponent to two goals or fewer.
• Giampa became just the fourth player in the Division I era of the program to record five points in a game and the first to do so since Cory Conacher notched five points (1g, 4a) in a 9-3 victory versus Bentley on Dec. 9, 2009. 
• Giampa also matched the program's Division I era record for assists in a game with four. He is the first Griff to accomplish the feat since Dylan McLaughlin notched four assists at Bentley on Feb. 13, 2016. 
• Freshman Carter Patterson recorded his first collegiate point with the secondary assist on Schiavon's first-period tally.
• Porter extended his goal-scoring streak to three games with his second-period tally.
• Rasmussen recorded multiple assists in a game for the second time in his career with his two-assist effort on Tuesday, matching his total against Augustana on Nov. 3, 2023.
• Schiavon and Budd both scored their first goals of the season with their tallies on Tuesday.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius continues its homestand this weekend as it entertains No. 4 Michigan State in a non-conference series Oct. 25-26 at LECOM Harborcenter. Puck drop for both games is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
Tickets for both games are still available. They can be purchased by visiting the tickets page on GoGriffs.com, calling 716-888-TIXX or by visiting the Harborcenter ticket kiosk on gameday.
 
SUPPORT YOUR GRIFFS
Support the Canisius hockey team in conjunction with the "More Than A Game" campaign. Your donation to the hockey program helps our student-athletes continue to be champions in the community, in the classroom and in competition. To donate, CLICK HERE.
 
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