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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius forward Cooper Haar and Holy Cross forward Liam McLinsky line up for a faceoff at LECOM Harborcenter on Nov. 3, 2023
Lindy Feider
3
Canisius CAN 12-20-4
4
Winner Holy Cross CHC 19-12-4
Canisius CAN
12-20-4
3
Final
4
Holy Cross CHC
19-12-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Canisius CAN 1 2 0 3
Holy Cross CHC 0 2 2 4

Game Recap: Ice Hockey |

Holy Cross Rallies to Defeat Hockey in Game One of AHA Quarters

No. 2 seed Holy Cross scored three unanswered goals to erase a two-goal deficit and defeat No. 8 seed Canisius, 4-3, in game one of their 2024 Atlantic Hockey Association Postseason Quarterfinal Round Series Friday at the Hart Center Rink in Worcester, Mass.
 
Jack Ricketts, Matt Shatsky, Liam McLinskey and Jack Stockfish all scored for the Crusaders (19-12), who took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Jason Grande recorded 25 saves between the pipes for Holy Cross.
 
Senior Max Kouznetsov scored twice, freshman Trey Funk accounted for the third goal and senior Cooper Haar dished out two assists for the Golden Griffins (12-20). Senior David Fessenden finished with 42 saves in goal.
 
Trailing 3-1 late in the second period, Shatsky pulled Holy Cross within one just two minutes after Funk had given the Griffs a two-goal lead when his shot from the point found its way through traffic and past the blocker Fessenden.
 
The Crusaders carried the momentum into the third, striking twice in a 62-second span midway through the final frame to take the lead. McLinskey tied the game just past the nine-minute mark when put home a loose puck from close range before Stockfish struck in the next minute with a power-play tally, beating Fessenden with a slap shot from the right side.
 
Stockfish's power-play tally proved to be the difference, Holy Cross held Canisius off the board the rest of the way to secure the one-goal victory.
 
Earlier in the contest, Kouznetsov opened the scoring at the 11:23 mark of the first period, tapping home a loose puck after sophomore Stefano Bottini's initial attempt on the rush was turned aside by Grande. The teams traded goals during the first special-teams opportunity of the contest early in the second period as Ricketts tied just after the three-minute mark of the second with a shorthanded breakaway before Kouznetsov struck for his second of the game a little more than a minute later, depositing freshman Matteo Giampa's cross-ice feed past an outstretched Grande to put the Griffs back in front, 2-1. Funk expanded the Canisius advantage to 3-1 with 13:49 elapsed in the middle frame, sneaking a wrist shot under the right arm of Grande while on the rush for his seventh goal of the season, setting the stage for the Crusaders' comeback. HEAD COACH TREVOR LAGE POSTGAME COMMENTS
"That was a good hockey game tonight. When you are preparing for playoffs and trying to understand what a playoff game in the AHA feels like, that was a great example. That was two good teams going at each other in a very physical and tight game. Obviously, we came out on the wrong side of it tonight, but I liked how we played. There were a lot of individual effort plays that happened that gave us a really good chance to win a game on the road and I'm excited to get after Holy Cross again tomorrow.
 
"David Fessenden was spectacular. He gave us everything he had, which gave us a good chance tonight. Max Kouznetsov got a couple of goals. Matteo Giampa had some individual effort plays and at times, he looked like the best player on the ice. There were some skating plays from Luke Farthing. There was a huge block on a faceoff with Powell Connor. Stefano Bottini makes a nice play to setup our first goal. The play from Trey Funk was a great individual effort that got us a two-goal lead in a second period. Randy Hernandez had his legs tonight. Overall, I really liked how we played. Losing this time of year stings, but I like how we're like how we're playing.
 
"It's what has me excited the most. I said to the guys afterwards and I meant and believe that our culture is going to be the reason why we're going to win this series. A lot of average to below-average cultures cannot handle a loss tonight in this way where you're up in the third period on the road and you end up losing the game. An average culture can't come back and win the series and I believe in our guys, I believe in this team. I know what they're about. I know who we are and what our culture is. We don't have to remedy much in terms of how we play. We get a great opportunity to showcase who we are. That's what has me the most excited for tomorrow night."
 
GAME NOTES
• Holy Cross outshot Canisius by a 48-26 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 36-20 advantage over the final two periods.
• The Crusaders were 1-of-2 on the power play while the Griffs scored on their only man advantage opportunity of the contest.
• Canisius suffered its first loss of the season when leading after two periods, moving to 7-1-2 in 2023-24 when carrying a lead into the third period.
• The Griffs moved to 3-8 this season in one-goal games with Friday's setback.
• Kouznetsov tallied multiple goals in a game for the second time this season with his two-goal performance on Friday. His other multi-goal game of the season also came against the Crusaders as he scored twice in a 3-3 tie against HC back on Nov. 4.
• Haar recorded multiple assists in a game for the first time this season and the third time in his career with his two-assist performance on Friday.
• Giampa extended his point-scoring streak to four games (1g, 4a) with his assist on Kouznetsov's power-play tally in the second period.
• Fessenden recorded 40-or-more saves in a game for the fourth time this season with his 42-save performance on Friday.
• Senior Luke Farthing recorded his fourth assist of the season with the secondary helper on Funk's second-period goal.
 
UP NEXT
The teams play game two of their series Saturday. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. at the Hart Center Rink.
 
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