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Canisius University Athletics

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Members of the Canisius and Niagara hockey teams lineup for a faceoff during their exhibition contest at Dwyer Arena on Oct. 8, 2023
5
Winner Canisius CAN 0-0-0
2
Niagara NIA 0-0-0
Winner
Canisius CAN
0-0-0
5
Final
2
Niagara NIA
0-0-0
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 1 2 2 5
Niagara NIA 2 0 0 2

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Hockey Rallies From Early Deficit to Defeat Niagara in Exhibition

Canisius scored five unanswered goals to overcome an early two-goal deficit and defeat Niagara, 5-2, In collegiate men's ice hockey exhibition action Sunday at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston, N.Y.
 
Freshman Matteo Giampa and Jackson Nieuwendyk, seniors Griffin Loughran and Kyle Haskins and graduate student Erik Urbank all found the back of the net for the Golden Griffins. Senior goaltender David Fessenden (five saves) and freshman netminder Ethan Robertson (10 saves) combined to stop all 15 shots they faced over the final two periods to help secure the exhibition win.
 
Christian Gorscak and Alex Murray accounted for the two goals for the Purple Eagles, who jumped out to a 2-0 lead a little more than six minutes into the contest.
 
Gorscak opened the scoring at the 2:19 mark of the first when he beat Canisius junior goaltender Alex Houston with a shot between the legs from the middle of the slot.
 
Murray doubled the Purple Eagles advantage to 2-0 with a short-handed tally less than four minutes later when he beat Houston from close range after Nigara created a turnover deep in the Canisius zone.  
 
Giampa got Canisius on the board with a power-play goal just 95 seconds after Murray's tally, collecting a loose puck on the left sidewall, eluding a Niagara defender and sniping a wrist shot over the glove of Purple Eagles goaltender Jarrett Fiske to make it a 2-1 contest.
 
Nieuwendyk brought the Griffs level just 13 seconds into the start of the second period, jumping out of the penalty box and collecting a stretch pass from Urbank to get behind the Niagara defense before beating Purple Eagles keeper Ryan Ouellette with a backhanded effort to knot the score at 2-all.
 
Loughran gave Canisius the lead at the 15:22 mark of the second period, depositing a loose puck over the glove hand of Ouellette from the edge of the left faceoff circle during a power-play opportunity to put the Griffs in front, 3-2.
 
Haskins stretched the Canisius advantage to 4-2 with 5:34 elapsed in the third period, depositing Loughran's feed over the right shoulder of Niagara keeper Mitchell Day from the right faceoff circle for a power-play tally.
 
Urbank closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal with less than three minutes to play in the third period.
 
GAME NOTES
• Canisius out-shot Niagara by a 31-29 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 21-15 edge during the second and third periods.
• The Griffs were 3-for-6 on the power play while the Purple Eagles were 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
• The teams will play a total of three times during the regular season, beginning with a home-and-home series on Jan. 19-20 before closing out the series with a single-contest at LECOM Harborcenter on Feb. 6.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius opens the regular season Oct. 13-14 with a non-conference series at Miami (Ohio). Start time for both games of the two-game set at the Goggin Ice Center is slated for 7 p.m.
 
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