Jason PIneo scored two goals and Chad Veltri stopped all 16 shots he faced to pace Niagara in a 4-0 victory over Canisius in Atlantic Hockey Association action Saturday at LECOM Harborcenter in downtown Buffalo.
Ryan Cox and Brandon Stanley also found the back of the net for the the Purple Eagles (4-10-3, 3-9-3 AHA), who earned a split of the “Battle of the Bridge” series between the two longtime rivals.
Junior Matt Ladd got the start in goal for the Golden Griffins (8-5-0, 8-5-0 AHA) and made 10 saves before being replaced by sophomore Jacob Barczewski at the start of the second period. Barczewski made 13 stops before giving way to senior Tucker Weppner late in the third. Weppner stopped the only shot he faced.
After being out-shot by a 35-16 margin on Friday, Niagara turned the tables in the series finale Saturday, putting 28 shots on goal while limiting Canisius to a season-low 16 attempts.
Cox staked the Purple Eagles to a 1-0 lead at the 8:56 mark of the 1st period, putting home a rebound from the middle of the slot after Jesse Pomeroy’s goal line attempt was turned aside by Canisius junior netminder Matt Ladd.
Pineo doubled Niagara’s advantage to 2-0 on a power-play tally with 1:09 remaining in the opening frame, converting a backdoor feed from Chris Harpur for his second of the season.
Stanley made it a 3-0 contest with 16:46 elapsed in the second, banging home a loose puck from just off the right post after Croix Evigson’s shot from the point deflected off the end boards and back out front.
Pineo close out the scoring moments before the midway point of the third on a shorthanded breakaway, beating Barczewski with a wrist shot to the glove side.
Head Coach Trevor Large’s Postgame Comments
“Obviously a disappointing effort from us tonight. We got out-competed for most of the game. Our special teams were disappointing. We didn’t have enough players on our roster competing to have a good night. Whenever you do that in this conference, teams are going to beat you, whether they’re shorthanded or not. That was the outcome for tonight. So, we have to let this sting and bring it into the playoffs. That’s our current plan: let this sting for a while and look to recover starting next week.
“We can’t just chuck this game. It was an inexcusable effort from us. At this point of the year, we don’t have the luxury of being able to just chuck this game. We need to let this one settle in for us. We need to let it burn. If we just brushed it off, it would be a mistake because the reality at this time of the year is this is the last opportunity we have to go ‘okay, this game isn’t going to decide whether we play again or not this year.’ That is the only good part about tonight. From now on, we cannot have another performance like that. If it happens again, we will be going home. So, we need to analyze this one. Most importantly, we need everybody on our roster and on our staff to let this one stick right in our gut. We got to hang on to this one for a while.”
Game Notes
• Canisius suffered its first home loss of the season with Saturday’s setback to the Purple Eagles (4-1-0).
• The Griffs were shutout for the first time this season as they were held off the scoreboard for the first time since Dec. 6, 2019 at AIC. The setback was also just the fourth time Niagara has shutout Canisius in 61 meetings between the two programs.
• Niagara was 1-for-3 with the man advantage on Saturday while Canisius was 0-for-4 on the power play.
• Canisius’ 16 shots on goal Saturday represented a season low in that category for the Griffs.
• Weppner made his first appearance in goal for Canisius since Feb. 1, 2019 against Mercyhurst.
• Saturday’s contest served as the program’s Senior Salute, with the team honoring its seven senior student-athletes prior to the start of the contest.
Up Next
• Canisius will be the No. 2 seed in the Western Pod for the upcoming 2021 Atlantic Hockey Tournament.
• The Griffs will face No. 3 seed RIT in a best-of-three quarterfinal round series at LECOM Harborcenter.
• Date and start times for the series will be announced once they become available.
(Niagara University Hockey Photo)
