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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius forward Stefano Bottini is shown skating with the puck during game action versus St. Lawrence at the LECOM Harborcenter on Oct. 5, 2025
tom wolf
1
Canisius CAN 5-3-0, 1-1-0
4
Winner Bentley BEN 1-3-0, 1-0-0
Canisius CAN
5-3-0, 1-1-0
1
Final
4
Bentley BEN
1-3-0, 1-0-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 1 0 0 1
Bentley BEN 1 1 2 4

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Falls in Series Opener at Bentley

Michael Mesic tallied two goals and Nick Bevilacqua recorded 28 saves to pace Bentley in a 4-1 victory over Canisius in Atlantic Hockey America action Friday at Bentley Arena in Waltham, Mass.
 
Cameron Colton and Dylan Cook accounted for the other two goals for the Falcons (1-3-0, 1-0-0 AHA) while Stephen Castagna dished out two assists. After allowing a goal on the first shot of the contest, Bevilacqua stopped the final 28 shots he faced to earn his first career victory.
 
Senior Stefano Bottini tallied the lone goal for the Golden Griffins (5-3-0, 1-1-0 AHA). Senior Chase Clark got the start between the pipes for the Blue and Gold and finished with 26 saves.
 
Bottini gave Canisius the lead in the opening minute of the contest, slipping the puck past the left pad of Bevilacqua for his second goal of the season. Cameron tied the game less than four minutes later when he finished off a scoring opportunity after the Falcons created a turnover at the Griffs blueline.
 
Bentley took the lead at the 13:21 mark of the middle frame as Mesic stuffed home a rebound after Clark made the save on Castagna's initial attempt.
 
Mesic stuck for the second time in the contest just 16 seconds into the third period when he beat Clark to the glove side from close range after Bentley forced a turnover in the Griffs defensive zone.
 
Cook closed out the scoring with an empty-net tally in the final two minutes of regulation, hitting the vacant Canisius cage from the Bentley blueline to secure the Falcons victory.
 
HEAD COACH TREVOR LARGE'S POSTGAME COMMENTS
"Tough loss against very competitive Bentley team. Getting the first goal of the game in the opening minute got us going in a good direction but overall, it wasn't our best game. We had some chances to make it a closer game and maybe earn a chance to pull the goalie down a goal and maybe get this thing to overtime, but we could not convert. It was a competitive game, a good game by Bentley. We know we must be better tomorrow.
 
"If you lose battles, it gives the opponent opportunities to get to your net and score. We lost some battles tonight. You're going to have those in a game, but we lost too many tonight. We didn't match their energy level. It started with faceoffs. When the opponent takes possession on most of the faceoffs, it gets very difficult to get any momentum and to string things together. It gives them energy. It gives them momentum and that was frustrating. So, we have to do a better job on faceoffs. We must have more guys get around the puck and when it's your your time to win a battle, it's going to have to go our way. That's two good AHA teams going at it out there. Those battles are what usually determines the outcome of a game."
 
GAME NOTES
• Bentley outshot Canisius by a 30-29 margin for the game, holding a 10-3 edge in the first period before the Griffs posted a 26-20 advantage over the final two periods.
• Neither team scored on the power play as the Falcons were 0-for-3 and Canisius was 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
• Canisius moved to 4-2-0 this season when scoring the first goal of the contest. Both Griffs losses this season when scoring first have come in the last two contests.
• Porter extended his season-opening point streak to nation-long eight games as he picked up an assist on Bottini's first-period goal.
• Zacher stretched his point-scoring streak to five games with the secondary helper on Bottini's first-period goal.
• Canisius scored in the opening minute of the game for the first time since Matteo Giampa stuck just 28 seconds into a 3-2 victory over AIC at LECOM Harborcenter on Dec. 15, 2023.
 
UP NEXT
The teams complete their two-game series Saturday with a 6 p.m. contest at Bentley Arena.
 
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