By Peter Neville, Assistant Sports Editor
As we head into the final AHA series of the year before winter break, Canisius Hockey finds themselves at 5–2–1 in conference play, good for fifth place, despite playing less conference games than every team ranked above them.
The Griffs beat RIT 6–4 on Tuesday, with Kyle Haskins and Alton McDermott leading the way for the Griffs on the road. In net, freshman goalie Ben Bonisteel notched his first collegiate victory, recordeding 29 saves on 33 shots faced. On the other side for RIT, Matthew Wilde led the Tigers in scoring, notching a goal and an assist in the loss.
In his postgame interview, Coach Large went over his thoughts on the victory: “You know, obviously a big three points in the conference, or anytime you can come on the road and win a game, those are really positive things for your team. Obviously it’s a tough place to play, and I'm very happy with a lot of the effort tonight.”
Next for the Griffs, they’ll be returning home after a five-game road trip that began in early November. They will take on Sacred Heart, currently second in the conference, in a two-game series. Last season, in Fairfield, the Griffs were swept by the Pioneers, losing game one 4–1, and game two 3–2.
This season, with a 7–5–1 conference record, the Pioneers come to the Harbor Center, led by juniors Mikey Adamson and Felix Trudeau. Despite being a defender, Adamson is second on the team in goals and leads in assists, while Trudeau leads the team in both goals and points.
The Griffs continue to be led in all major offensive categories by sophomore Matteo Giampa. Through 14 games, Giampa has recorded five goals and 10 assists, totaling 15 points on the season. This ties him for sixth in the conference in points, despite having played fewer games than everyone else in the top 10. Trey Funk and Grant Porter are tied for second on the team in goals, each with four, while Oliver Tarr, Kyle Haskins, Kash Rasmussen and Jack Budd are all tied for second in assists behind Giampa, with six each.
Sacred Heart and Canisius will kick off their two-game series at the Harborcenter this Friday, with the first game set to begin at 7 p.m. The teams will then face off again on Saturday, with game two scheduled for a 6 p.m. puck drop.
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