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Canisius forward Alton McDermott celebrates after scoring his third goal versus Niagara at LECOM Harborcenter on Feb. 28, 2026
Lindy Feider
1
Niagara NIA 12-21-1, 9-16-1
5
Winner Canisius CAN 17-15-2, 12-12-2
Niagara NIA
12-21-1, 9-16-1
1
Final
5
Canisius CAN
17-15-2, 12-12-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Niagara NIA 1 0 0 1
Canisius CAN 2 1 2 5

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

McDermott’s Hat Trick Sparks Hockey Past Niagara

Graduate forward Alton McDermott recorded a hat trick to lead Canisius to a 5-1 victory over Niagara in Atlantic Hockey America action Saturday at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
 
Senior Hunter Andrew and junior Rhys Chiddenton also scored for the Golden Griffins (17-15-2, 12-12-2 AHA), who earned a split of their weekend series against their Battle of the Bridge rivals. Junior Walter Zacher dished out a career-high three assists while seniors Grant Porter and Killian Kiecker-Olson finished with two assists each.
 
Senior goaltender Chase Clark turned aside 31 of the shots he faced to earn his 11th win of the season.
 
Declan McDonnell notched the lone goal for the Purple Eagles (12-21-1, 9-16-1 AHA), opening the scoring at the 7:07 mark of the first period with a power-play goal as he one-timed a feed from Ross Roloson past the glove of Clark from the right face-off circle.
 
McDermott answered back for the Griffs with a power-play goal less than three minutes later, beating Rolovs from the bottom of the right face-off circle to knot the score at 1-1. McDermott added his second of the contest in the final minute of the opening frame, depositing Kiecker-Olson's feed past Rolovs from the middle of the slot to give Canisius a 2-1 lead. Chiddenton doubled the Canisius advantage seconds past the midway point of the contest, wiring a wrist shot under the glove of Rolovs from the slot for his 11th of the season.  The Griffs closed out the scoring with a pair of power-play tallies less than two minutes apart in the third. Andrew began the sequence at the 13:18 mark of the third, deflecting home sophomore Jason's Gallucci's point shot for his fourth of the season while McDermott capped the scoring with his third goal just 82 seconds later, jamming home a loose puck to complete his hat trick.   POSTGAME COMMENTS GAME NOTES
• Niagara outshot Canisius by a 32-23 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 15-4 edge in the first period.
• Canisius was a perfect 3-for-3 on the power play while Niagara was 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
• Canisius tallied four-or-more goals in a game for the 14th time this season and improved to 13-1-0 when doing so.
• McDermott recorded the 23rd hat trick in the Division I era of the program and the second this season (Walter Zacher Dec. 6 vs RIT).
• Zacher tallied three-or-more points in a game for the fourth time this season as he established a career high with his three assists on Saturday.
• Kiecker-Olson notched multiple assists in a game for the for the fifth time this season with his two-assist effort on Saturday. Kiecker-Olson also finished the regular season on a career-long six-game point streak that saw him rack up 11 points during the month of February (2g-9a).
• Porter notched multiple assists in a game for the sixth time this season with his two-assist effort on Saturday.
• Clark finished with 30-or-more saves in a game for the sixth time this season with his 31-save effort. It also marked the 11th start this season that Clark has allowed two goals or fewer.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will be the No. 7 seed for the 2026 Atlantic Hockey America Championship. The Griffs will host No. 10 seed Mercyhurst in a first-round contest Tuesday at 6 p.m. at LECOM Harborcenter.
 
Tickets for the game are available. They can be purchased by visiting the tickets page on GoGriffs.com, calling 716-888-TIXX or by visiting the ticket kiosk at LECOM Harborcenter on gameday.
 
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