Last year, more than 1,900 donors contributed more than $400,000 to the Blue and Gold Athletics Fund, providing essential funding that impacted our programs in the areas of scholarships, coaching excellence, recruiting, and team travel, helping our nearly 400 student-athletes excel in the classroom and on the field of competition. Because of donors’ support, we celebrated several program highlights during the 2022-23 year, including: • The hockey team captured the program’s second Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament championship and made its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament, squaring off against top-ranked Minnesota in the West Region Semifinal in Fargo, N.D. Senior goaltender Jacob Barczewski, named the AHA Tournament MOP, garnered All-AHA Third Team honors during the regular season, along with fellow senior Keaton Mastrodonato. • Baseball junior Matt Duffy became the highest draft pick in program history when he was selected in the fourth round (114th overall) by the Boston Red Sox in the 2023 MLB Draft. Duffy was the 15th player in program history to drafted and just the fifth junior to be selected. The 2023 MAAC Pitcher of the Year and an AllMAAC First Team selection, Duffy finished his collegiate career as the Griffs’ all-time leader in strikeouts with 278 career punchouts. • The softball team captured its second straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regularseason title as it posted a program-best 17-3 record in league play in 2023. Junior pitcher Megan Giese was tabbed the MAAC Pitcher of the Year for the second-straight season while head coach Kim Griffin earned MAAC Coach of the Year for the second time in her tenure on Main Street. • In swimming and diving, graduate student Adriana Bolender was named the MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships CoWomen’s Most Outstanding Diver after posting a pair of third-place finishes in the 1M and 3M disciplines. • Women’s soccer made its first appearance in the semifinal round of the MAAC Championship since the 2013 season as the Griffs defeated Rider in a penalty-kick shootout after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinals of the 2023 MAAC Women’s Soccer Championship. Head Coach Ryan Louis was named the MAAC Coach of the Year while five players received All-MAAC designation. • Junior Andrew Perreault finished in first place and established a program record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the MAAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 6-7) with a time of 9:16.17. Perreault’s victory marked the first time in program history that a male Canisius student-athlete has captured the steeplechase title at the MAAC Championships. • A total of 50 Canisius student-athletes were named to their respective all-conference teams during the 2022-23 academic year, highlighted by four student-athletes winning a total of five major individual awards. • The Canisius Athletic Department enjoyed another solid semester in the classroom as 19 of its 20 varsity programs posted a cumulative team grade point average of 3.30 or better during the 2023 spring semester, with 11 teams posting a team GPA of 3.40 or higher. • The 2023 spring semester saw 61 student-athletes earn a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Those 61 student-athletes highlighted a group of 313 Canisius student-athletes to record a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. That breaks down to 82.0 percent of Canisius’ student-athlete population. Thank you in advance for supporting the Blue & Gold Fund and our students! FORWARD SISI ELEKO MAAC ALL-ROOKIE TEAM SELECTION
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTcyNDA=