NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Jackson Teichroeb had another strong outing in net and Phillip Nasca scored his second of the season as the Niagara Purple Eagles and RIT Tigers played to a 1-1 tie at Dwyer Arena.
Teichroeb stood tall between the pipes for the Purple Eagles (3-12-1; 3-8-1 AHA). A night removed from making a career-high 44 saves, he posted another 34 on Saturday, including five in the overtime period to help earn NU a point.
“If he gives us goaltending like that, it told our team that I think we’re a championship team,” head coach Dave Burkholder said. “I still think we can make a lot of noise in Atlantic Hockey and, if her plays that way, he gives us a really good chance.”
It was the Tigers (5-8-3; 4-5-3 AHA) who opened up the scoring at the 14:17mark of the first while on the man advantage. The lead was short lived, however, as Nasca tied the game just over a minute later. Chris Lochner carried the puck into the offensive zone and dropped the puck back to Derian Plouffe while Nasca crashed the right post. The puck got through both defensemen and found Nasca far side. The sophomore put the puck in the back of the net for his second of the season and to knot the game at 1-1. Plouffe’s assist is the first of his collegiate career.
Teichroeb made 11 saves in that opening period. He added another 11 in the second and seven in the third as the game went down as a 1-1 tie.
“We’ll take it,” said Burkholder. “Every point is huge in Atlantic hockey and we’re one good weekend away from competing for home ice in the playoffs or even a bye. Obviously at home you want to take care of business, but we’re going to have to take this point and regroup after Christmas.”
Niagara peppered Jordan Ruby with 19 shots through the final 45 minutes, but was unable to convert. While the power play finished 0-for-6, they were able to find some success that didn’t find its way onto the score sheet.
“It’s a work in progress,” Burkholder said. “It’s not where we’d like it to be, but I thought that tonight we gained momentum off of our power plays. That has not been the case. So, if that’s a starting point, we’ll take it and try to make it better in the second semester.”
With the RIT home-and-home at an end, the Purple Eagles head into the Christmas break. The next time they take the ice will be on January 2, 2015when they play the first of two games at Sacred Heart.
