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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius defenseman Jackson Decker is shown in this game photo versus Niagara at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, N.Y.
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0
Canisius CAN 12-23-2
2
Winner Bentley BEN 20-14-2
Canisius CAN
12-23-2
0
Final
2
Bentley BEN
20-14-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 0 0 0 0
Bentley BEN 0 0 2 2

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Eliminated by Bentley in AHA Quarterfinals

Arlo Merritt scored early in the third period to break a scoreless tie and lift No. 3 seed Bentley to a 2-0 win over No. 6 seed Canisius in game two of their Atlantic Hockey America quarterfinal round series Saturday at Bentley Arena in Waltham, Mass.
 
Ethan Leyh added an empty net goal for the Falcons (20-14-2), who swept the best-of-three series to advance to the semifinals of the 2025 Atlantic Hockey America Postseason Tournament.
 
The third-period goals from Merritt and Leyh were all the support that Bentley goaltender Connor Hasley needed as he stopped all 25 shots faced to record his second straight and NCAA leading 10th shutout of the season.  
 
Freshman Ben Bonisteel recorded 30 saves between the pipes for the Golden Griffins (12-23-2).
 
After a scoreless first, Canisius appeared to open the scoring on a rebound goal by sophomore Trey Funk early in the second period, but the Griffs were determined to have been offside on the play.
 
The game remained scoreless until the 3:29 mark of the third, when Merritt collected the puck below the goal line and made a move towards the goal before his shot deflected off a Griffs defender and into the Canisius cage.
 
The Griffs pushed for the equalizer but were unable to solve Hasley before Leyh put the game out of reach with an empty-net goal with less than two minutes remaining to seal the victory.

HEAD COACH TREVOR LARGE'S POSTGAME COMMENTS
"I liked how we played. We asked the guys to increase their level of compete and they did that. Obviously, you play a weekend where you get zero goals, that's a tough way to win. It puts a lot of pressure on our goaltending. But I thought Boni (Ben Bonisteel) was great tonight. It was just not meant to be. I liked how we played in the game. It was a good hockey game. I wish we could have done more to get us that one or two goals that it would have needed to win. After games like these, in these moments, it's about the people. A lot of great people played their last game for us tonight. That's where all our energy and focus as coaches is right now.  
 
"The impact of the Class of 2025 on our program is very real. If you take the five years as a whole, when you're looking back, these are players in your program that you won a championship with and got to an NCAA Tournament with. Some of them played in two AHA championship games.
 
When it ends, it's very quick. There are great people that had some good moments. But it's not just the on-ice stuff. You're thinking more about the off-ice stuff than any goal or moment that any of these guys ever had wearing the uniform. It's a lot of good people who had a significant impact on what we're trying to do as a program. A lot of active participants in the culture that we're trying to create. I thank them heavily. I'm very humbled to be the head coach of this program. I get an opportunity to be around people that care about being on a team and what that requires. There are some very impactful people in my life that have worn the jersey this year and go back with our program for the last five years. There's a lot of great people that I have a lot of fond memories of in that locker room."
 
GAME NOTES
• Bentley outshot Canisius, 32-27, for the contest, highlighted by a 12-5 edge in the first period.
• Both teams were 0-for-1 on the power play as there were only two minor penalties called in the contest.
• Canisius was shutout in consecutive games for the first time since it was held without a goal in back-to-back matchups versus Maine (Dec. 10) and Army (Jan. 13) during the 2022-23 season.
• Graduate defenseman Jackson Decker appeared in his 159th career contest on Saturday, passing Ben Danford (2010-14) for first place on the program's career games played list.
• Bonisteel recorded 30-or-more saves in a game for the first time in his career with his 30-save performance on Saturday.
• Junior Grant Porter led Canisius with five shots on goal while sophomore Trey Funk added four.
• Three players – Decker and freshmen Luke Marshall and Carter Patterson – were tied for the team lead with three blocked shots each.
 
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