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ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Niagara’s number one goaltender finally got to play a game this season. Sidelined with an end-of-season surgery after last year’s playoffs, Jackson Teichroeb made his first appearance for the Purple Eagles and promptly shutout RIT, 2-0, on two third-period goals by Dan Kolenda.
“It felt great,” Teichroeb said. “I was anxious to get out there, put on the jersey again and be with the boys.”
“He’s a junior; he’s playoff tested,” said Niagara coach Dave Burkholder, a former goalie himself at RIT. “He’s played in this building, so I knew he could handle this atmosphere. It’s just a great college atmosphere. He was a calming influence for us back there. He looked like an upperclassman goalie.”
The game didn’t necessarily start out in Niagara’s favor. RIT controlled play in the first few minutes, just missing on a number of golden opportunities, including open-net chances that went wide.
“We didn’t have a great start,” Burkholder said. “It was a little sloppy on our part. But as the game wore on, I thought our forecheck was really effective.”
That forecheck gave Niagara opportunities, which they too had issues converting, missing their own open nets, an easy wraparound, and one off the post.
“We just told the guys to be patient and stay on top of the crease,” Burkholder said
In the meantime, Teichroeb was called upon to keep his team in the game despite his initial rustiness.
“As you get rolling, you get hotter and hotter once you get that confidence,” he said.
However, on the other end, Mike Rotolo was also stopping everything which came his way, until 4:59 of the final period.
A long scramble in front of the net saw the puck come out to the right of Rotolo. Kolenda was right there to knock it into the unguarded nearside.
Teichroeb continued to turn away the few chances RIT had in the third period. Then, the fatal blow came with just under two minutes left. Niagara was about to break out on a two-on-one when Caleb Cameron dove to break up the play. However, instead of getting the puck, he tripped up the opponent, drawing a penalty.
Down a man, the Tigers had to get aggressive to force a faceoff in Niagara’s zone. Mark Golberg did just that, stealing the puck at the blue line, transitioning the other way on a breakaway. It didn’t phase Teichroeb.
“I knew he was going five-hole,” he said. “Just a hunch. I went down before he even shot it. He put it right into me.”
It did, however, force a faceoff. allowing RIT to pull Rotolo to at least skate five aside. RIT was not able to apply much pressure, and Niagara eventually cleared the zone. After a Tanner Lomsnes shot hit the post, Kolenda put in the rebound, which was scored as a power-play empty-net goal to seal the victory.
It was Kolenda’s fourth goal in the past three games.
“Just hanging around the front of the net is the biggest thing,” Kolenda said of his recent hot play. “Sneaking around, waiting, anticipating plays and utilizing my linemates, too.”
Meanwhile, RIT’s coach, Wayne Wilson, was none too happy with his team’s performance.
“It was an embarrassing effort, I thought, overall,” Wilson said. “They owned us today in every facet of the game. It’s our rink here, and we just handed the keys to our house over to them and let them own us in our own rink tonight.
Teichroeb didn’t mind making his season debut in the hostile Gene Polisseni Center as he had experience playing there before.
“I knew what I was getting myself into. It definitely helps.”
He ended the day with 24 saves.
The loss puts RIT (4-4-1, 4-9-2) into a three-way tie for seventh place, with Niagara (3-5-1, 3-10-2) now two points behind.
The two teams square off again Saturday night, this time in Niagara.
