BUFFALO, New York - Behind freshman goaltender Stefano Durante's first collegiate shutout, the American International College ice hockey team downed Atlantic Hockey Conference-leading Canisius College, 3-0, on Friday, January 12, for the Yellow Jackets' third straight win.

FAST FACTS:
Final score: AIC 3, Canisius 0.
Records: AIC improves to 9-12-2 and 8-8-2 in conference play; Canisius falls to 10-9-2 and 10-5-0 in Atlantic Hockey.
Location: HarborCenter (Buffalo, New York)

STATS LEADERS:
AIC:
Stefano Durante (26 saves, first career shutout)
Dominik Florian (one goal)
Johno May (one goal)
Nicolas Luka (one goal)
Dominic Racobaldo (five blocked shots)

Canisius:
Daniel Urbani (29 saves)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Behind eight first-period saves from Durante and a late goal by sophomore right wing Dominik Florian, AIC entered the locker room for the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.
• Senior right wing Johno May converted off a perfect pass from freshman defenseman Brennan Kapcheck to notch his first goal of the season at 10:55 of the second.
• Sophomore defenseman Nicolas Luka got his second goal of the year at 8:22 of the third period to put the game out of reach.
• As he did the entire game, Durante stood tall in the final frame and made 13 third-period stops to preserve the shutout and victory for AIC.

BUZZWORTHY:

• This was AIC's first win over Canisius since the 2015-16 season, and one of just a few in recent years for the Yellow Jackets - this is just AIC's third win over the Golden Griffins since the 2008-09 season.
• This was the first time Canisius has been shut out at home since November 2014.
• May's second-period tally marked his first goal since November 10, 2016.
• Durante becomes the first Yellow Jacket to record a shutout this season and the first since now-sophomore goaltender Zackarias Skog shut out the University of Massachusetts on January 3, 2017.
• Durante continues to lead Atlantic Hockey with a 1.90 goals-against average on the year and sits just behind Holy Cross's Paul Berrafato (.923) with a .922 save percentage. His goals-against average ranks sixth nationally and second among rookie netminders.
• Kapcheck's 12^th assist of the year added to his team-leading total; he also leads the team with 18 points.
• Senior alternate captain Dominic Racobaldo had five blocked shots to add to his team-leading total, now at 33 blocks. That marks ranks as his second-highest total of the season - just behind his six-block performance against Penn State on October 20.

COACH'S CORNER:

• "We got contributions up and down our lineup," said AIC ice hockey head coach Eric Lang. "Right now our guys have a lot of buy-in, and they're getting it done, and they're executing."
• On May: "Johno's played three great games in a row, and we always say you get what you deserve. He certainly deserved that goal here. Brilliant play by Brennan Kapcheck."
• On Durante: "The best compliment we can pay to Stef is guys on the bench talking about finishing here - make sure we finish, make sure we finish. They really wanted to get him that zero, and it's pretty neat that he gets to do it as close to his hometown as possible. I know his parents were here. He's an even-keel kid, and adds a calmness to our program and an element of just being level at all times. It helps relax us at some critical moments."

PLAYERS' CORNER:

• "We wanted to be really stingy again defensively," Racobaldo said. "We know if we played good defense, good neutral zone, that the offense would come."
• "It was good - a lot of weight off my shoulders," May said about his goal. "It was a great play by Brennan Kapcheck and definitely relieved to get thatDefinitely a huge win. The team's been playing really well, we've been kind of on a bit of a roll here. Being able to play here with the first-place team in our conference definitely gives us a little bit of confidence."
• "It's a great feeling here with my family here, especially," Durante said. "The boys really helped me out with this one, a lot of big blocks there throughout that game. Glad I got it here."

NEXT UP:

• AIC and Canisius conclude the series on Saturday, January 13. Puck drop is set for 7:35 p.m.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC ice hockey team, follow @AIC_Hockey on Twitter and Instagram, and like AIC Hockey on Facebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow @AICAthletics on Twitter and Instagram, and like AIC Yellow Jackets on Facebook.