ROCHESTER — The Purple Eagles hockey team got two quick goals from Kris Spriggs and Sam Rennaker to take a lead they would not relinquish in Game Three of an Atlantic Hockey First Round series against the two-time defending AHC champion RIT Tigers. Stanislav Dzakhov scored twice in the third period and Jackson Teichroeb made a season-high 42 saves in goal as Niagara defeated RIT 4-1 Sunday night at the Gene Polisseni Center, taking a 2-1 series victory.
Niagara (5-29-3) is now 3-1 in Game Three situations since moving to Atlantic Hockey in 2010. This is also the second time in three years that the Purple Eagles have now upset the 6-seed in the Atlantic Hockey First Round after entering as the 11-seed. Niagara started the 2015 postseason with a three-game series victory over the Holy Cross Crusaders, seizing a 5-3 win in Game Three on March 6, 2015.
Jackson Teichroeb started off with a huge save just seconds into the game. RIT’s Gabe Valenzuela intercepted Niagara’s breakout pass and deked right, but Teichroeb stretched the pads to stuff the early chance. Niagara responded immediately as Kris Spriggs scored at the 1:00 mark for the game’s first goal. Vinny Muto sent a stretch pass up the left wing boards to Spriggs. Spriggs fed over to Stephen Pietrobon, who touched a pass back to Spriggs between two RIT defenders, and Spriggs sent the loose puck five-hole past RIT goaltender Mike Rotolo for the 1-0 lead. Less than three minutes later, Sam Rennaker doubled the Niagara lead. Stanislav Dzakhov was turned away by Rotolo on a wraparound chance, but Johnny Curran corralled the loose puck and found Rennaker wide open in the slot for the one-time goal. After making 12 saves in the first period, Teichroeb was even better in the second period, making 22 saves as RIT outshot Niagara 22-3 in the middle stanza. The lone goal allowed by Teichroeb was buried by the Tigers’ Jordan Peacock.
Teichroeb was stellar again in the third period, making three saves in the first three minutes to preserve Niagara’s one-goal lead. The senior netminder then made a shorthanded stop on RIT’s Myles Powell before Dzakhov reestablished the two-goal lead for the Purple Eagles. Working the puck around the top of the power-play set, Noah Delmas gave Dzakhov a one-time chance that Rotolo got most of, but not enough as the puck trickled in. That goal gave Niagara a 3-1 lead with 14:50 left in regulation. Late in the game, the Tigers pulled Rotolo in favor of the extra attacker to try and cut the deficit, Dzakhov netted his second goal of the night with 2:57 remaining, sealing the 4-1 score in favor of the Purple Eagles.
Niagara advances to the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinals for the fourth time in the last five years, and will face a familiar foe. The Canisius Golden Griffins finished as the first seed in Atlantic Hockey and they will play host to Niagara in a best-of-three series next weekend. The quarterfinal series between Niagara and Canisius kicks off Friday at 7:35 p.m. and will lead into a second game at 8:05 p.m. on Saturday. If Game Three is necessary, that game is slated for a 6:35 p.m. puck drop on Sunday. All games will be played at the KeyBank Rink at HARBORCENTER in Buffalo. The winner of that series will head to Blue Cross Arena in Rochester for the single-elimination Atlantic Hockey semifinals on Friday, March 17.
