BUFFALO, N.Y. (February 18, 2023) – In the middle of the first period on Saturday afternoon, the DJ at Harborcenter cued some circus-like music up over the PA system. It wound up being an apt choice for what would turn into an eventful Atlantic Hockey contest between the Sacred Heart University men's ice hockey team and homestanding Canisius. The two sides combined for 10 goals in a wild affair, with the host Golden Griffins chalking up a 6-4 victory despite a 30-22 advantage in shots for visiting SHU.
"In terms of possession, I really liked our game; I thought we had the puck a lot tonight," said head coach C.J. Marottolo after the game. "I thought Canisius was really opportunistic on the chances they had."
Canisius (13-15-3, 11-9-3 AHA) carried a 2-1 lead into the second period, which was where things really got busy. The first 4.5 minutes of the frame featured three goals, as the teams traded blows with each other coming out of the locker room. The Pios tied the game at 2-2 just 64 seconds into the stanza, after Todd Goehring (Wayside, N.J.) had his shot blocked from the high slot blocked. The rebound came straight to Marcus Joughin (Tecumseh, Ontario) in the right circle, and the first-year forward buried his eighth of the season from there.
The Golden Griffins reclaimed the lead 2:49 later, when David Melaragni was left unattended between the hash marks and put away a one-timer for his fourth of the campaign.
Just another 29 seconds after that, SHU (15-14-2, 13-8-2 AHA) leveled things again, this time at 3-3. It was a bit of a fortunate bounce for the seventh of the season for Austin Magera (Suwanee, Ga.), who threw the puck towards the goal from the right side and saw it deflect off a defenseman and into the net.
The middle of the second period would prove pivotal. Canisius' Nick Bowman received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct at 10:41, which put the Pios on an extended power play. SHU came up empty though, with just a pair of shots to show for it.
It would loom as a large missed opportunity almost immediately. Canisius went on an advantage of its own 38 seconds after killing off the major, and needed only 15 seconds to convert. Daniel DiGrande put home his 10th of the year with a shot through traffic from the top of the left circle. The goal gave the Golden Griffins a 4-3 lead they would never relinquish.
Things went from bad to worse for the special teams in the third period. Looking for the tying goal on the power play, SHU conceded a shorthanded marker instead. Ryan Miotto found a seam for an outlet pass from his own goal line and was able to spring Keaton Mastrodonato on a breakaway. The latter finished off his 12th of the season at 7:27, to make it a 6-4 game.
"At the end of the day, we didn't score on the five-minute major, they scored on their power play and we gave up a shorthanded goal," continued Marottolo. "Special teams kind of put us down the wrong road tonight."
Mastrodonato later added an empty-net goal as well, while Logan Britt (Crystal Lake, Ill.) put home a rebound for SHU with 9.1 seconds to play, to create the 6-4 final.
Luke Lush (Sherwood Park, Alberta) finished with 16 saves against 21 shots in the loss (12-13-2) in the SHU crease. Jacob Barczewski (10-12-1) stopped 26 of 30 in the win for Canisius. The Pios posted a 57-31 advantage in shot attempts to go with their 30-22 shots on goal margin.
The two sides will wrap up their weekend series with a 4 p.m. faceoff on Sunday at Harborcenter.
