By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For the seventh time in as many starts, Jakub Krbecek stopped at least 30 shots.
The effort, though, was not enough as has been the case on four occasions already this young season.
It’s a troubling trend facing head coach Wayne Wilson and his RIT Men’s hockey team.
“We’re not giving him an opportunity for success,” Wilson said after RIT (3-8-0/2-4-0) lost to Army West Point (4-6-0/4-5-0), 5-1 in front of 4,300 fans at the Gene Polisseni Center, Friday night. “It’s not good. We got to be much better.”
Army West Point needed less than three minutes to get on the board.
A giveaway behind the RIT net led to Adam Marshall’s first of two goals on the night. The Black Knights second goal, a two-on-one break, was the result of some sloppy passing in the offensive end.
“We gave it right to them, and they just came right back at us,” Wilson said. “When we’re five guys in the zone and they got five guys in the zone, we defend pretty well. But it’s when we’re making mistakes or turning the puck over or don’t move it quickly enough or put it at someone’s feet or an array of problems.”
Army’s fifth goal of the night was particularly troubling. Coming out of a faceoff in the RIT end, defenseman Jon Bell pushed up along the right side and with two Tigers on him, backhanded a pass toward the RIT goal that a defended Hunter McCoy tapped in for his first goal of the season.
McCoy simply wanted the puck more.
“We’ve got be much better,” Wilson said. “We’re not winning any battles. We’re not making any plays.”
Krbecek made 31 saves on the night. He came into the night averaging 34.5 stops including a season-high 43 in a loss to Bowling Green.
At times, the first-year goaltender was brilliant. He made a sprawling save on Brent Keefer when the Tigers were down two skaters early in the second period. Later, he stopped back-to-back open looks from Niles Forselius and Jack Ivey.
A power play followed.
For a moment, it appeared RIT might take advantage of possible momentum, but a Christian Catalano shot in front of the Army net sailed high. The Black Knights went on the fast break, and Marshall scored for the second time.
“We’re not even close to where we need to be. We’ve got to fix it. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long first half.”
Krbecek’s counterpart, JJ Cataldo, came into the game leading the nation with a save percentage of 96.0. The fellow first-year performer didn’t see nearly as many tests as he stopped 19 shots.
Cataldo plays behind a pair of senior defensemen in Andrew Gilbert and Andrew Garby along with junior Sean Vlasich.
With graduate student Dimitri Mikrogiannakis and junior Xavier Lapointe sidelined with injuries, RIT was left with three first-year players and two sophomores along the blue line.
“We miss his leadership, but one guy can’t make a difference,” Wilson said of Mikrogiannakis. “If that’s where we’re going to be, we’re going to be in big trouble. It’s a bigger problem than that right now, and it’s collective.”
For Wilson, the fixes are straightforward.
“Stop the rush, move the puck quicker, block some shots, more zone time, no turnovers.”
RIT came into the game being outshot by opponents, 351-267 for the year.
RIT’s penalty kill fended off four Army power plays including the two-man advantage to start the second period.
“Our penalty killing has been good really from almost the start of the year. Really, that’s been the only bright spot. That’s about it. Our Friday nights have been awful. Saturdays have been better. I hope that happens. There’s no guarantee. People are getting excited to play us after Friday night. We got to be prepared for that.”
Simon Isabelle scored RIT’s lone goal, his team-leading sixth of the season. Tanner Andrew assisted on the play.
The same two teams face each other, Saturday night. A 7:05 p.m. puck drop is scheduled.
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