ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men’s hockey team (14-12-6, 14-7-5 Atlantic Hockey) erupted for five second-period goals in an important 5-2 victory against Niagara (5-21-6, 5-16-5 Atlantic Hockey) at the Gene Polisseni Center on Saturday night. The win keeps RIT in a tie for second place in the Atlantic Hockey standings, with Air Force and Holy Cross and clinches a first round bye for the Atlantic Hockey Tournament.
RIT is 4-1-3 against the Purple Eagles over the last eight meetings, winning the 2015-16 season series with a 2-1-1 mark.
Gabe Valenzuela (Brampton, Ontario/North York Rangers) tallied two goals, while Andrew Miller (Chicago, IL/Chicago Steel), Liam Kerins (Caledon, Ontario/North York Rangers), and Erik Brown (Keene, Ontario/Kemptville 73’s) added a goal each in the 16:38 stretch of the second period, after Niagara held a 2-0 advantage after the first period. Valenzuela, the game’s first star, finished the night with three points on two goals and an assist. Brown tallied a goal and an assist, while Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) added two assists. Mark Logan (Calgary, Alberta/Brooks Bandits ), Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs), Caleb Cameron (Sundridge, Ontario/Listowel Cyclones), and Greg Amlong (O’Fallon, MO/UMass Lowell) each finished with an assist. Nick Amato (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Northern Cyclones) picked up his second collegiate victory, stopping 22-of-24 shots.
TJ Sarcona and Kevin Patterson scored the two Niagara goals in the first period. In goal, Jackson Teichroeb stopped 17 shots in 36:50 of game-time. For the second straight night, Guillaume Therien came on in relief; stopping six shots the rest of the way. RIT out shot Niagara 29-24 in the contest.
Special teams were kind to the Tigers, as they went 2-for-4, including scoring on both power-play opportunities in the second period. RIT also held Niagara to 0-for-5 with the man advantage. RIT has not allowed a power-play goal over the last eight games.
“I thought we didn’t take advantage of power-play opportunities in the first period,” said RIT men’s hockey head coach Wayne Wilson. “(Andrew) Miller’s goal in the second gave the team a spark, and we had a better work ethic. The guys showed some resiliency in coming back, and we had a lot of contributions from everyone on the team.”
Much like last night’s game, the Tigers came out firing offensively. Within the first minute of the contest Brown had an early chance off a turnover in the Niagara defensive zone. He found himself at the doorstep with just the goalie to beat, but the shot went wide. Despite being outshot 13-6 in the first period, Niagara made the most of its chances. Sarcona opened the scoring for the Purple Eagles, as he received a pass from Larry Smith in between the faceoff circles, firing a shot over Amato for the goal.
Later on in the period, Kerins found what seemed to be an open net on a rebound, but Teichroeb knocked the shot aside. That led to a Niagara 2-on-1 break. Brock Edwards found a streaking Patterson, with just the goalie to beat, and he got the puck past Amato high to make it 2-0 Niagara.
Niagara nearly came way with a third goal early in the second period to make it 3-0. Amlong came through with a heads-up play, swatting away the puck on the goal line off a shot by Johnny Curran. His effort on defense fired the Tigers up, as they erupted for five unanswered goals in the period. A minute after the Amlong save, Mark Logan (Calgary, Alberta/Brooks Bandits ) fed a streaking Miller on the rush, firing a shot from inside the faceoff circle, beating Teichroeb top shelf to reduce the deficit to one.
Midway through the period, the Tigers tied the game at 2-2, as Brown fed Valenzuela, who found Kerins charging up ice. Kerins’ shot from the point rattled around the net with another top shelf finish. Valenzuela wasn’t finished, getting two goals in a span of 2:22 to put the game away. On the game winner, a power-play goal, Josh Mitchell (Osoyoos, British Columbia/Alberni Valley Bulldogs) fed a pass to Valenzuela from the goal line, as Valenzuela fired a wrist shot that beat Teichroeb low. Valenzuela then led the Tiger rush after Norrish fed him in the Tigers defensive zone. Valenzuela went three-quarters of the ice, speeding past the Niagara defense, beating Teichroeb wide.
The Tigers finished the scoring with five ticks to go in the period on the power play. Myles Powell (Courtenay, British Columbia/Cowichan Valley Capitals) fired a shot from just inside the blue line, which went high and rattled along the boards. Cameron grabbed the rebound from the goal line, feeding Amlong along the boards outside of the face off circle. Amlong fired a slap shot, which redirected off of Brown’s shoulder to pass Teichroeb into the net, bringing the Polisseni crowd of 3,548 to a standing ovation.
In the third period, Niagara tried to pound the net to mount the comeback, taking an 11-4 shots on goal advantage. Late in the game, RIT was given three straight penalties, and that is where Amato shone brightest. He made several big saves, deflecting shots from Vinny Muto and Nick Farmer away to keep the Purple Eagles from scoring, even as they pulled Therien for the extra attacker in the final 1:36 of action.
Tonight was the final regular season meetings between the two schools this season. RIT and Niagara met for a home and home series on Dec. 11-12, 2015. On Dec. 11 at the Polisseni Center, Teichroeb stopped 24 shots, while Dan Kolenda scored both goals in a 2-0 win. The next night, RIT scored three power-play goals in a 4-2 win at Dwyer Arena. Mike Rotolo (Rochester, NY/Cedar Rapids Roughriders) made 24 saves for the victory. Last night, Chase Norrish (Strongfield, Saskatchewan/Yorkton Terriers) scored with 47 seconds left in regulation to rally RIT to a 4-4 tie at Dwyer Arena.
The Tigers will finish the regular season with a home-and-home series against Mercyhurst on Feb. 26-27. Friday’s game will be at the Gene Polisseni Center, with the Tigers celebrating their seniors.
