By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
For Christian Catalano, seeing the puck finally hit the back of the net provided instant relief, and not just because the power-play goal late in the third period pulled Rochester Institute of Technology into a 2-2 tie.
When you’ve always produced, and when you expect to score but aren’t doing so, the internal pressure mounts.
So when his one-timer from deep in the left circle lasered past goalie Charlie Schenkel with 5:47 remaining, Catalano celebrated not only just his second goal in 10 games but a revival of the Tigers’ hopes for victory Saturday evening against Robert Morris University.
“That was a big goal for the team,” he said. “I think we gained a lot of energy from it.”
For Evan Konyen, meanwhile, seeing the puck hit the back of the net – just 32 seconds into overtime – was pretty much just more of the same.
The freshman winger has transitioned seamlessly from consistent major junior scorer in the Ontario Hockey League to RIT’s leading goal producer.
Taking the puck in the left circle, he angled his way across the top of the slot, then attacked through the right circle before zipping a shot between the legs of relief goalie Croix Kochendorfer.
When he gained possession of the puck and had open space, he admitted he wasn’t looking for Zach Wigle or Ben Roger, the other Tigers on the ice during the three-on-three overtime.
“I was taking it to the net,” he said.
And why not. Through 21 games, Konyen has 8 goals, 7 assists, shares the team lead in points (15) with Wigle and leads the team in winning goals (three).
“We love his hockey sense,” said RIT coach Matt Thomas after the Tigers improved to 13-9-0 overall and moved into a tie for second place in Atlantic Hockey with Holy Cross (9-5, 27 points). “He’s having success because of his brain, his skills and his ability to make plays.”
His production has certainly played into RIT’s success. After last season’s un-RIT-like 10-23-2 finish, Atlantic Hockey coaches picked the Tigers to finish eighth in the conference.
But Konyen didn’t come to the Henrietta campus simply so he could play college hockey. He was attracted by the expectation of conference titles and the history of NCAA regional appearances.
“I came here because of the long history of winning here,” Konyen said. “I want to win. Coach Thomas is a really good coach, probably the best coach I’ve ever played for. Right from the start it was made clear that last year wasn’t acceptable. We need to get back to the standard of being a winning program.”
So far, so good. The Tigers have a signature victory over No. 8-ranked Penn State, a Brick City Homecoming win over Clarkson, have won nine in a row at home and are within striking distance of first-place Bentley in Atlantic Hockey.
The scoring from Konyen, Wigle and Austin Brimmer (he had the first goal Saturday) has perhaps been a surprise, but there’s now less reliance on Catalano and others.
“It’s great to have scoring all around the team,” Catalano said. “Every line can go, every line can score. That’s what makes a great team.”
The Colonials (4-14-2, 4-7-1) scored the only goal in Saturday’s first period, with freshman Bruce McDonald swatting home a rebound at 18:13.
John Babcock’s point shot was blocked in the slot but the puck bounced directly to Jackson Reineke between the right hash marks. Goalie Jakub Krbecek stopped his shot but McDonald’s rebound try slithered between the goalie’s legs and just across the goal line for his first goal of the season.
Brimmer played sniper to tie the score just 37 seconds into the second period off the fast break, picking the top shelf on the short side from the left circle.
The score stayed 1-1 until Michael Felsing connected on a power play for Robert Morris at 11:06 of the third period. The goal came just 11 seconds after Catalano was penalized for what ended up being a virtual tackle on the backcheck.
Thomas called it “a terrible penalty,” but added that Catalano’s desire to work can offset some mistakes.
“It’s nice when a guy can make up for it by scoring a goal,” Thomas said. “He’s such a hard worker and he cares so much. When you have guys that will empty the tank, you’re happy when they get rewarded.”
The reward came just 3 minutes and 7 seconds later when Catalano one-timed Tristan Allen’s pass into the net for his seventh goal. It was also RIT’s first power-play goal in nine games.
“I loved our resolve tonight,” Thomas said, “and obviously that was a great goal by ‘Cat.’ ”
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