SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – In a game that entered the final 20 minutes scoreless, the Purple Eagles hockey team found its scoring touch late in its first road game against the AIC Yellow Jackets. Two goals in the final eight minutes and a shutout effort from goaltender Jackson Teichroeb gave Niagara a 2-0 win over American International Friday night at the Olympia Ice Center.
 
Niko Kovachis and Nick Farmer picked up goals in the third period as the Purple Eagles (4-20-3, 4-15-2 Atlantic Hockey) earned their fourth win of the season and second against AIC. Sean King, TJ Sarcona, Vinny Muto, and Ryan Kuhn each picked up one assist. Teichroeb made 25 saves to earn his second shutout of the season and fifth of his career.
 
"This was a very big road win tonight for our team," head coach Dave Burkholder said. "Our defensive core was really solid on the opposing rushes and transitioned our offense well all night."
 
With 25 saves in the game, Teichroeb became just the fourth goaltender in Niagara history and the tenth active goaltender in the NCAA to reach 2,000 career saves. Teichroeb joins Jeff Van Nynatten (2,956), Juliano Pagliero (2,699) and Greg Gardner (2,639) in the 2,000-save club, and he becomes the first Niagara goaltender to eclipse that milestone before his senior season. Additionally, Teichroeb's shutout win was his second win of the season; his first win was a 24-save shutout in a 2-0 win at RIT back on Dec. 11, 2015.
 
A scoreless first period ended with AIC (5-21-2, 5-15-2 Atlantic Hockey) leading in the shot column 11-7. After a slow start to the game, the Purple Eagles found their legs and just missed on a number of quality chances. Niagara's best chance of the period came when Vinny Muto banked a pass off the end boards that ended up right on the stick of TJ Sarcona with a wide-open shot at the net, but the bouncing puck floated high over a wide-open net.
 
In the second period, Teichroeb reached the 2,000-save plateau, stopping a point shot from AIC's Ryan Polin with 4:09 remaining. The Purple Eagles maintained their momentum from late in the first period and earned an 8-7 shot advantage to head into the final period of play scoreless. It took over 12 minutes into the final period, but Niagara was able to break the scoreless tie late in the game. King's one-time shot was turned away in front and Sarcona's rebound chance was denied, but Kovachis took advantage of AIC goaltender Alex Murray losing position in the net to start the scoring.

Just over three minutes later, Muto rung a shot around the boards and behind the net that was corralled by Farmer. The freshman roofed a shot under the crossbar for his fourth goal of the season and second goal in as many games. Teichroeb and the Niagara defense locked down the AIC attack in the final minutes of play to secure Niagara's first victory of 2016.
 
"All our guys punched the clock at the start of the game and went to work for the full 60 minutes," Burkholder said. "Now we have a chance to do the same tomorrow night and earn four points for the weekend."
 
The Purple Eagles and Yellow Jackets return to the ice at 3:05 p.m. Saturday afternoon to conclude the four-game season series between the two teams. Jeremy White will have the radio play-by-play on 1340 AM WLVL and PurpleEagles.com/Watch.
 
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