Watertown, Mass. – Three different freshmen scored for the Canisius College hockey team in a 3-1 road victory at Bentley on Friday night. With the win, the Griffs improve to 9-15-5 on the season and 9-9-5 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Falcons drop to 11-15-4 and 9-11-4 versus league foes.
“Tonight was a real gritty and character victory for us,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “It is going to take more of the same tomorrow as we look for a key late-season sweep.”
Freshmen Felix Chamberland (Quebec City, Quebec), Jimmy Mazza (Kings Park, N.Y.) and Alex Jaeckle (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) all scored for the Griffs in the winning effort with Mazza and Jaeckle both netting their first collegiate tallies.
Freshman Simon Hofley (Ottawa, Ontario) stopped 33 shots between the pipes for the Griffs.
Bentley found the back of the net first when Andrew Gladiuk scored at the 9:08 mark of the opening frame. The senior was left alone in front of the goal and finished his chance for the 1-0 lead.
The Falcons’ only lead, however, would last 33 seconds as Chamberland and the Griffs answered right back. On a rush, freshman Joshua Gabriel (Lancaster, N.Y.) sent a pass through the slot and Chamberland finished with an open look on net for the 1-1 game. Sophomore Mike Sabatini (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) also registered an assist on Chamberland’s fourth goal of the season at the 9:41 mark of the first.
The Griffs then took the lead midway through the second frame when Mazza scored his first collegiate goal on the power play. The rookie defender sent a one-timer into the netting off a pass from classmate Dylan McLaughlin (Lancaster, N.Y.) for the 2-1 advantage at the 9:12 mark with senior Ralph Cuddemi (Concord, Ontario) also registering an assist on the extra-man tally.
Canisius quickly stretched its lead to two when Jaeckle netted his first career goal just over two minutes later. A pair of quick passes by McLaughlin and Cuddemi led to a back-door goal from Jaeckle, who had snuck up from his position at the point for the first tally of his collegiate tenure at the 11:25 mark, giving the Griffs a 3-1 advantage.
The two-goal lead was more than enough for the Griffs as the team’s defense held Bentley off the scoreboard in the final frame for the 3-1 victory.
The Falcons finished the game with a slight edge in shots, 34-33. Canisius won the special-teams battle by going 1-for-6 on the power play and killing all seven of Bentley’s extra-man chances.
Jayson Argue recorded 30 saves in defeat for the Falcons.
The schools wrap up the season series tomorrow night with a 7:05 p.m. puck drop set in Watertown, Mass.
Game Notes: Overall, the freshman class combined for six points on three goals and three assists in the victory (in addition to Hofley’s 33 saves) … Hofley has now started each of the last 10 games with a 1.94 goals against average and .942 save percentage … Canisius had two different defenders score in a game for the first time since the 2014 Atlantic Hockey Championship versus Robert Morris … McLaughlin has registered at least one point in eight of his last nine contests … Canisius is unbeaten in its last five games versus Bentley (4-0-1), dating back to the 2014 Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals.
