NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Two goals from Isaac Kohls and a mammoth effort from Jackson Teichroeb led the Niagara Purple Eagles to a 2-1 victory over the AHA regular season champion Robert Morris Colonials on Friday night at the Dwyer Arena.
Kohls opened and closed the scoring with goals at the six-minute mark of both the first and third periods while Teichroeb made 32 saves on the night.
“That’s three games in a row, so for what we’ve been through as a team, it feels good,” head coach Dave Burkholder said. “Our top line, in the last three games, has been our top line which has been good.”
TJ Sarcona and Stanislav Dzakhov both assisted on each of their linemate’s goals. Dzakhov started the play that gave the Purple Eagles (5-24-4; 5-18-4 AHA) their first lead of the game as he carried the puck into the offensive zone with a full head of steam. He got the puck to the middle of the ice with a pass to Sarcona who then sent a tape-to-tape backhand pass to a driving Sarcona who put NU in front 1-0 with 6:14 into the game.
It was Sarcona who started the play that gave Niagara its final 2-1 lead in the third. Sarcona got the puck off of a face-off and found Dzakhov with a pass that gave the freshman and Kohls a 2-on-1 in front of the net. Dzakhov sent it through the defenseman to Kohls who tapped in his second of the night and eighth of the season at the 6:44 mark of the third.
Teichroeb made 12 saves throughout the third period that helped keep Niagara in front down the stretch. Three of those saves came back-to-back-to-back while Niagara successfully killed the fourth of five PKs on the night. The last penalty kill of the night came with less than a minute to play and the RMU (21-7-5; 18-5-4 AHA) goaltender on the bench.
“That’s the game right there from start-to-finish where I thought he was a star of the game,” Burkholder said of his goaltender. “That’s what you need come playoff time. We shut down a high-octane power-play, so it is a credit to our penalty killers, and your goalie has to be your best at that and he was that tonight.”
“Our penalty kill was great,” he continued. “We got into shot lanes. Chris Lochner, a senior, blocked a huge shot at the end of the game when they pulled the goalie. Overall I just liked out compete level. They might have won the shot game, but at the end that doesn’t matter.”
With the win, Niagara has five points through its last three games after going 1-0-1 against Air Force last weekend. This latest win came with a season-high seven players out due to injury, but that did not seem to rattle the Purple and White.
“When you have seven guys out, sometimes you cut the bench, but I didn’t have to tonight,” said Burkholder. “I thought Matt Chartrain with Dan Kolenda and Pat Conte did a good job for us when we needed them to play some minutes. Hugo Turcotte, Brock Edwards, and Phil Nasca were also factors. Our third and fourth lines held their own, which is what is going to have to happen when you get into the playoffs.”
As the last home game of the regular season, Friday night featured a pregame ceremony that honored the four seniors on the roster. Kohls, Lochner, Kevin Albers, and Sam Alfieri were those honored before the game.
With AIC’s 4-0 win over Army, the Purple Eagles head into Saturday’s regular season finale one point out of 10th place. Tomorrow’s final game against Robert Morris is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start.
