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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius forward Walter Zacher shoots the puck during game action against Army at Tate Rink in West Point, N.Y. on Oct. 14, 2025
Aubrey Cullum
3
Winner Canisius CAN 4-1-0, 1-0-0
1
Army West Point AWP 2-1-1, 0-1-0
Winner
Canisius CAN
4-1-0, 1-0-0
3
Final
1
Army West Point AWP
2-1-1, 0-1-0
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 2 1 0 3
Army West Point AWP 0 0 1 1

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Begins AHA Play with Victory at Army

Canisius used goals from three different players and a 29-save performance from senior goaltender Chase Clark to record a 3-1 victory over Army in Atlantic Hockey America action Tuesday at Tate Rink in West Point, N.Y.
 
Juniors Walter Zacher and Rhys Chiddenton and senior Killian Kiecker-Olson all scored for the Golden Griffins (4-1-0, 1-0-0 AHA) while Clark continued his stellar play between the pipes for Canisius as he stopped the first 29 shots he faced to earn his fourth win of the season.
 
Ben Ivey jammed home a rebound in the final minute of regulation to account for the lone goal for the Black Knights (2-1-1, 0-1-0 AHA). JJ Cataldo got the start in goal for Army and finished with 29 saves.
 
Zacher got Canisius on the board just 3:18 into the contest, racing into the Army zone before firing a wrist shot under the glove of Cataldo from the right face-off circle to give the Griffs the early lead. Canisius saw its lead increase to 2-0 moments before the midway point of the opening frame as an Army defender attempted to clear a loose puck off the goal line after a shot by Chiddenton found its way through Cataldo, but his attempt baked off the Army  Cataldo and into the Black Knights goal. Kiecker-Olson extended the Griffs cushion to 3-0 at the 13:24 mark of the second period, jamming home a loose puck after Cataldo had turned aside the initial shot off the stick of senior Christian MacDougall. Ivey got Army on the board with 40 seconds to play in the contest, tapping home a rebound from close range to spoil Clark's shutout bid.
 
HEAD COACH TREVOR LARGE'S POSTGAME COMMENTS
"I really liked the effort and energy we put into our identity tonight and the effort up and down our roster today. That seemed to be something that we were missing Saturday against LIU. Chase Clark was very good in net for us again. He's had quality start after quality start and he was extremely solid again tonight, controlling the game from his crease, which is such a huge confidence boost to the team. Walter Zacher scored an unbelievable goal early in the game to get us going, our power play got it done again and a scrappy goal from KO (Killian Kiecker-Olson) to make it 3-0. All those goals became vitally important. The only disappointing thing is we gave up a late goal. Chase Clark doesn't get his shutout, but he deserved one.
 
"There was no gliding from us. The second and third effort was there. It doesn't mean you're always going to get rewarded for that. The hockey gods are sometimes cruel and don't always reward effort. Tonight, the hockey gods saw our effort, and they were able to help us out a little bit. But we talked for the past 24 hours about who we are and spending time on ourselves; not so much on the strategy of any opponent. The guys responded to that extremely well. We need to continue to do that because it is going to be more about our controllable things on how we behave and as a group there was a very good response because we did not play Griffs hockey our last time out. That was not who we are, or at least who we want to be. Tonight was a good culture building game for us.
 
"You're up 3-0 against a good Army team on the road. What I said to the guys going into the third period is 'Do not rush this.' We do not want this period to go quickly. We wanted that period to go a lot slower. That's the just the feeling of being out there, being in the moment, keeping it very simple, trying to win your moment in your shift, and then have the next guy go over the boards and do their job and do the exact same thing. I didn't feel panic and anxiety on our bench at all. We had control of the game. You know, obviously Army needed to take some risks, and they got some late chances, but we didn't put them on the power play. Good discipline by us. We didn't give up a lot of chances. We played smart, we played hard and we had control in the offensive zone for good chunks of the period. That's the best way for a quiet death for any opponent.
 
GAME NOTES
• Canisius opened conference with a win for the third straight season with Tuesday's victory.
• The Griffs held a 32-30 shot advantage in the contest, highlighted by a 13-5 edge during the second period.
• Canisius was 1-for-3 with the man advantage while Army was 0-for-2 with the extra attacker.
• Canisius improved to 4-0-0 this season and 88-38-12 under Large when scoring the first goal of the game.
• The Griffs also moved to 4-0-0 in 2025-26 and 89-17-10 under Large when holding an opponent to two goals or less.
• MacDougall picked up his first career assist with the primary helper on Kiecker-Olson's second-period goal.
• Senior Grant Porter extended his point-scoring streak to a career-high five games with a secondary helper on Zacher's opening goal.
• Zacher notched the first goal of the game for the second time in five contests with his first-period tally. He is now tied with Porter for the team lead in goals this season with three.
• Chiddenton notched the first power-play goal of his career with his first-period tally. He also registered the first game-winning goal of his career.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius opens a non-conference series at Colgate Friday. Puck drop for the opener between the Griffs and Raiders is slated for 7 p.m. at Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, N.Y.  
 
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