BUFFALO, New York – In a game where there were almost as many minutes in penalties as minutes of play over the final two frames, Canisius College defeated the American International College ice hockey team 6-4 in an Atlantic Hockey Association matchup on Friday, November 26.

FAST FACTS:
Final Score: Canisius 6, AIC 5
Records: The Yellow Jackets fall to 3-9-1 overall and 3-4-0-0-0-2 in the AHA, while the Golden Griffins rise to 8-5-1 and 5-2-0-0-0-0 in the AHA
Location: LECOM Harborcenter, Buffalo, New York

KEY STATS:
Canisius:
Max Kouznetsov: Two goals, two assists
Austin Alger: Two goals
Joey Matthews: One goal, one assist
Lee Lapid: Two assists
Daniel DiGrande: One goal
Jacob Barczewski: Win (7-4-0), 20 saves

AIC:
Jake Stella: Two goals
Brian Rigali: One goal, one assist
Chris Dodero: Two assists
Zak Galambos: Two assists
Brian Kramer: One goal
Blake Bennett: One goal
Jake Kucharski: Loss (3-6-1), 19 saves

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• AIC had significant territorial advantage in the first period and it showed not only in an 11-4 shot count but on the scoreboard. Freshman Evan Stella and graduate student Justin Cole helped the scoring get started with a great battle to keep the puck in at the blue line, and Cole was able to find junior Blake Bennett at the netfront and he banged home his second of the year on the rebound of his own shot at 13:03.
• AIC added to the edge late in the frame as sophomore Nico Somerville found graduate student Chris Dodero in the right circle for a shot that classmate Brian Rigali tipped in for his third of the year at 18:53.
• The second period turned in Canisius's favor early, and the Golden Griffins got on the board as Austin Alger was able to knock a puck in from the left side during a power play that also had an AIC player without a stick. The goal came at 3:13.
• AIC drew a power play of its own and responded, as junior Zak Galambos dished to Dodero, and Dodero in turn went across the slot, finding junior Jake Stella for a one-timer and his fifth of the year at 6:02.
• Canisius took a pair of penalties in rapid succession, and Stella scored a carbon-copy of his first goal, snapping the puck in at 11:10 for his sixth of the year on a pass from graduate student Chris Van Os-Shaw.
• The Golden Griffins took advantage of a string of AIC penalties to cut back the deficit. Joey Matthews scored at 14:25 right off a faceoff, and Alger put his second of the period home at 16:46. AIC did kill the last penalty of the stretch to take a 4-3 lead into the locker room.
• Early in the third, Canisius was awarded a major power play on video review, and Max Kouznetsov tied the game just over two minutes into it, scoring at 3:17 in the slot.
• Just past the midway point, Kouznetsov put the home team in the lead for the first time, striking at 10:02 with another one-timer.
• Matthews set up Canisius's sixth goal, taking a one-timer that was tipped by Daniel DiGrande at 14:39.
• After a Canisius penalty, AIC elected to pull redshirt sophomore Jake Kucharski for an extra attacker and it paid off as sophomore Brian Kramer one-timed home his first collegiate goal at 16:50 from Rigali and Galambos.
• Canisius hung on despite a final push from AIC, taking the 6-5 win.

POWER PLAY PARADE:

• Both teams went 50 percent on the man advantage.
• AIC scored three times on six power plays, while Canisius notched four goals on eight chances.

QUOTABLE:

• "Hard to gauge how your team is playing when the entire game is special teams. Not quite sure how we got there. I can't remember the last time we took eight penalties in a hockey game. Credit to Canisius for their resolve and ability to stay with the game," Head Coach Eric Lang said after the game.

NEXT UP:

• AIC and Canisius will battle again on Saturday, November 27 at 1:00 p.m.