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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius forward Stefano Bottini is shown in game action versus Niagara at LECOM Harborcenter on Jan. 30, 2026
Lindy Feider
5
Winner Niagara NIA 8-15-1, 5-10-1
3
Canisius CAN 13-10-2, 8-7-2
Winner
Niagara NIA
8-15-1, 5-10-1
5
Final
3
Canisius CAN
13-10-2, 8-7-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Niagara NIA 3 0 2 5
Canisius CAN 2 1 0 3

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Sees Winning Streak Snapped in Setback to Niagara

Dallon Melin scored midway through the third period to break a 3-3 tie and spark Niagara to a 5-3 victory over Canisius in Atlantic Hockey America action Friday at the LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
 
Declan McDonnell tallied two goals while Jacob Maillet and Aidan Litke also added individual tallies for the Purple Eagles (8-15-2, 5-10-1 AHA), who snapped a seven-game losing streak with Friday's victory. Mitchell Day got the start in goal for Niagara and recorded 23 saves.  
 
Sophomore Carter Patterson and seniors Oliver Tarr and Stefano Bottini scored for the Golden Griffins (13-10-2, 8-7-2 AHA). Sophomore Petter Wickström Stumer made 27 saves between the pipes for Canisius, who had its five-game winning streak halted with the setback.  
 
With the score tied in the middle stages of the third, Melin gave Niagara its third lead of the game at the nine-minute mark of the final frame when he put home a loose puck after Wickström Stumer made the initial save on point-blank shot off the stick of Maillet.
 
Canisius attempted to mount a late comeback, but was unable to net the equalizer before McDonnell closed out the victory with an empty-net tally in the final 15 seconds of regulation.
 
Earlier in the contest, McDonnell opened the scoring less than five minutes into the first when he put home a rebound after the initial shot from Maxim Muranov on a zone entry found the post.
 
Patterson tied the game a little more than a minute after McDonnell's opening tally, beating Day with a wrist shot from the top of the point for his second goal of the campaign. Mallet restored the Purple Eagles lead moments before the midway point of the first period, beating Wickström Stumer with a wrist shot from the middle of the slot for his third goal of the season.
 
Litke doubled the Niagara margin to 3-1 with 16:55 elapsed in the first when he took Marshall Finnie's centering feed and snuck it past the blocker of Wickström Stumer for his first collegiate tally.
 
Tarr cut the Canisius deficit in half on the next shift as he raced into the Purple Eagles zone before tucking a wrist shot over the left shoulder of Day to make it a 3-2 contest. Bottini brought the Griffs level for the second time in the contest less than three minutes into the second period when he deposited rebound created by a point shot by sophomore Luke Marshall into the Niagara cage to knot the score at 3-3, setting the scene for Niagara's third-period surge. POSTGAME COMMENTS GAME NOTES
• Niagara outshot Canisius by a 32-26 margin, highlighted by a 12-6 advantage in the third period.
• Neither team scored on the power play as each side was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
• Canisius allowed four-or-more goals in a game for the seventh time this season and moved to 0-7-0 when doing so.
• Tarr notched his eighth goal of the season with his first-period tally, making him one of three Canisius players with eight or more goals this season (juniors Walter Zacher and Rhys Chiddenton).
• Senior Kash Rasmussen dished out multiple assists in a game for the first time in a Canisius uniform and the second time in his career (11/3/23 vs Augustana while at Michigan Tech).
• Bottini recorded multiple points in a game for the first time this season and third time in his career as he notched a goal and an assist on Friday.
• Seinor Robert Kincaid tallied his eighth assist of the season on Tarr's first-period tally, putting him in a tie with freshman FJ Buteau for the team lead in assists among defensemen.
 
UP NEXT
The teams complete their two-game series Saturday with a 7 p.m. contest at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, N.Y.
 
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