BUFFALO, N.Y. – Cleveland State (1-4) picked up its first win of the 2026 season on the road at Canisius (1-4), 13-9, on Saturday afternoon.
Brennen Hickey had a career day, finishing with the second-most points in a game, seven, and scoring the fourth-most goals in a game, five.
Canisius scored the first two goals before
Xander Johnson tallied the next two, evening the game at 2-2 heading into the second quarter.
The Griffs reclaimed the lead just two minutes into the second frame, but a man-up goal by
Creed McDonald, followed by a Hickey strike, gave the Vikings their first lead, 4-3, with 4:59 to go in the half.
Less than a minute later, Canisius retied the game before Cleveland State ran off three unanswered goals to lead 7-4 at halftime. Two of the tallies were on the man-up by
Landon Whalen and McDonald, along with an unassisted goal from Hickey, his second of the game.
Whalen bagged the first two goals of the third quarter to complete his hat-trick and make it 9-4 with 13:13 showing. Following a home team goal, Hickey completed his hat-trick with 5:24 left in the quarter. The Griffs struck two times in the final two minutes to get within 10-7 heading into the fourth.
McDonald was the final Viking to complete the hat-trick with 12:13 remaining in the fourth quarter to lead 11-7. Eleven minutes went by with neither team scoring until Hickey struck with 1:25 showing, making it 12-7.
Hickey sandwiched a pair of Canisius goals in the final minute as Cleveland State picked up its first win of the year, 13-9.
Cleveland State picked up 28 ground balls in the game, led by six from
Payton Corpus.
Robbie Stewart won four faceoffs, while
Carson Cheek was 3-of-3 in the circle.
Corpus was tied for a game-best three caused turnovers, while
Griffin Valli and
Seth Alejandrino had two apiece.
Hickey, Whalen, and McDonald all finished with hat-tricks.
Adam Van Voorhis dished out a team-best three assists.
Oliver Vanyo made his first collegiate start in the cage and had eight saves on the afternoon.
The Vikings host St. Bonaventure for the final non-conference game and senior day on Saturday, March 7, at 1 p.m.
