Uninspired Bobcats fall listlessly to Harvard

Uninspired Bobcats fall listlessly to Harvard
by Seth Rothman
February 16, 2008

Quinnipiac played six periods of uninspired hockey within a span of 24 hours.

Those six periods led to two embarrassing, debilitating losses, including a 4-1 loss against Harvard University (11-11-3, 9-7-2 ECAC) on Saturday night in front of 2,822 at the Bright Hockey Center in Cambridge, Mass.

“We struggled tonight finishing our chances,” Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold told WQUN’s Don Boyle. “We had a lot of good offensive chances, and even out-chanced Harvard by quite a bit, but that’s part of hockey. Sometimes the puck goes in and sometimes it doesn’t.”

The game got off to an inauspicious start for Quinnipiac (17-9-4, 9-5-4 ECAC) when Dan Travis got called for hitting from behind. Instead of a two minute penalty, referee Alex Dell issued Travis a very questionable major penalty and game misconduct. After the game, Pecknold voiced his frustrations with Dell on the ice, and on the radio.

“We got a couple good breaks, and got a real unfortunate one with the five on Dan,” Pecknold said. “It probably should have been a two, but that’s the breaks. They didn’t call fives on [Harvard] later, and that’s life.” 

During the ensuing power play, Harvard capitalized.

Harvard’s Paul Dufault won the faceoff back to Brian McCafferty. He sent a pass to Matt McCollem who scored his third tally of the season with 5:37 left in the 1st period.

“Even the first goal they scored, the linesman told [Quinnipiac's Brandon Wong] to move his stick, he moves it, they drop the puck, and they score,” Pecknold said. “Sometimes you get good breaks and sometimes you don’t.”

After Travis got thrown out of the game, Quinnipiac’s defensive intensity dropped considerably as one of the most physical players on the Bobcats team was no longer a part of the action. Once the lack of intensity reared its ugly head, Quinnipiac reverted back to its ugly play of Friday night.

With 2:56 left in the opening stanza, Harvard’s Pier-Olivier Michaud struck. He scored his 1st goal of the season on the rebound of Dave Watter’s blast from the point when Ben Nelson didn’t cover Michaud out in front. For the freshman Michaud, it was his first collegiate goal.

Quinnipiac was out-shot 10-8 in the first period, and 16-14 in the second. After drastically out-shooting Harvard in the final frame, Quinnipiac ended up out-shooting the Crimson 38-33 for the game.

In the second period, Harvard added their third goal when Michaud scored his second goal of the game the same way the second goal of the game was scored. Shot from the point, little defensive pressure, goal-scorer in the slot with no blue shirt around him.

“Harvard’s a good team, you have to go them credit,” Pecknold said. ”They’re a top 20 team, they haven’t proved it all year, but they’re playing well right now.”

With 12:28 remaining in the contest, Pecknold pulled Bobcats goalie Bud Fisher for an extra attacker, and Harvard’s Doug Rogers capitalized on the empty net 29 seconds later to make it 4-0.

Quinnipiac finally got on the board with 11:05 to go when senior Ben Nelson sent the puck home onthe short side. Dan Henningson and Jamie Bates assisted on Nelson’s 11th tally of the season.

So now, Quinnipiac takes the long bus ride home, tails between their legs. Next weekend the Bobcats will face a huge test when Cornell comes to the TD Banknorth Sports Center in a game that could help decide whether Quinnipiac will get a first round bye.

After smashing RPI 7-1 on Saturday, Cornell will come into the TD Banknorth Sports Center looking to move past the Bobcats into third place in the conference. Quinnipiac is only one point ahead of Cornell, and 4 points ahead of Colgate, who comes to Hamden on Sunday. The Red Raiders occupy the 8th spot in the conference.

One thing is for certain, the Bobcats will need to pick it up against the Big Red of Cornell in the second to last home game of the season.

NOTES: Quinnipiac’s season has been the tale of last season. Last year, Quinnipiac’s record through 15 games was 8-3-4. Through 18 games, it was 9-5-4. This season, the Bobcats record is exactly the same, and the way they got there is also exactly the same. Quinnipiac finished their last four games last year by going 1-3. … This is the first series sweep in ECAC Hockey endured by Quinnipiac all season, and the first since February 23 and 24, 2007, when they got blanked by SLU and Clarkson in Hamden. … It’s their first ECAC Hockey sweep on the road since January 13 and 14, 2006. … Despite the loss, Quinnipiac clinched at least a first round home playoff series, to be played March 7-9. … Friday’s game will not be televised, but Sunday’s game, Quinnipiac’s senior day, will be televised by NESN starting at 12:30pm.

Quinnipiac Athletes Launch “Pink-Out”

Quinnipiac Athletes Launch “Pink-Out”
By Zach Smart

Adversity.

Most of us have handled or been dealt our fair share of it.

It’s about as unpredictable an aspect of life there is, one that simply nobody can eschew. No one gets through life unscathed.

According to the National Cancer Institute, roughly 178,480 and 2,030 cases of breast cancer surfaced last year between women and men, respectively.

Quinnipiac has constantly taken significant steps towards fighting breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in America.

Programs and fundraisers have been launched, money has been donated, research programs have received considerable contributions. Fraternities, clubs, and recently-installed programs alike have done their part in helping fight and raise awareness to breast cancer.

On Feb. 22, however, thanks to the efforts of Quinnipiac junior Jackie Herb, an event that may be head-and-shoulders better than most others of its ilk will be installed. It is promising on more fronts than one.

Herb and senior Roger Fish, the president and co-president of S.A.A.C. (Student Athletic Advisory Committee), respectively, will host the inaugural “Pink Out.”

The event is designed to raise money for the Susen G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The “For The Cure” foundation maintains a high-order commitment to “curing breast cancer at every stage-from the causes to the cures, to the pain and anxiety of every moment in between,” according to the program’s website.

Shirts with “Pink Out” emblazoned on the front, accompanied by the breast cancer awareness ribbon will be sold for $10 each, prior to the men’s hockey team’s 7 P.M. showdown against Cornell at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.

It’s an event that Herb and Fish, members of the women’s tennis team and men’s lacrosse team, respectively, are certainly giddy about.

“Obviously, if we can get everybody (who attends) to buy one, that’s a good amount of money that we can donate,” explained Fish, a native of Columbus, Ohio.

“On another level, we think that this is going to be a great way to promote school spirit. Our hockey team is having a great success again, and we feel that we can make this maybe a tradition, that the QU hockey team picks a game each year to have this event. We’ll raise awareness and we’ll raise money.”

Given the record attendance of the Feb. 8 Yale game, this could be a hit. Spirited students and hockey fans willing to help a good cause can cohesively contribute before cheering on their team in the jam-packed stands.

Fish continued, “Wearing a bunch of yellow shirts is one thing. Wearing a bunch of pink shirts that actually mean something, well…We realize that this is something that could set us aside from other college hockey teams and other college traditions.”

Herb dug up the idea in the beginning of September. She presented it to athletic director Jack McDonald and Tracy Flynn, ironing out the ideas with the Student Alumni Association. All parties were instantly sold.

A pink-clad fan base is certainly envisaged for the evening game. Fish and Herb hope that the seeds they planted for an event of this magnitude will sprout into an annual success.

Quinnipiac gets humiliated by Dartmouth

Quinnipiac gets humiliated by Dartmouth
by Seth Rothman
February 15, 2008

Dartmouth University (9-11-4, 4-10-3 ECAC) used 7 unanswered goals to embarrass the Quinnipiac Bobcats 7-2 in ECAC Hockey play in Hanover, NH on Friday night in front of 2.837 patrons at Thompson Arena.

Quinnipiac (17-8-4, 9-4-4 ECAC) started out well against a Dartmouth team that started the game dead last in the ECAC Hockey standings, but the Bobcats could not keep the intensity up.

Seven minutes in, Dartmouth’s Matt Reber took a hooking penalty, and Quinnipiac’s Greg Holt capitalized. After senior Ben Nelson hit the post, Holt drilled the puck from the left-wing side off Dartmouth defenseman Joe Stejskal’s skate and into the net.

Nearly five minutes later, Quinnipiac struck again on the power play. Dan Henningson blasted a shot from the point that got deflected by senior Dan Travis. When Dartmouth goaltender Mike Devine made the save but couldn’t control the rebound, Travis pounced to give the Bobcats the 2-0 lead.

That’s when the wheels fell off for Quinnipiac, who then allowed 7 unanswered goals — 3 in the second and 4 in the third.

After the game, Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold was not happy with how his team protected the lead.

“We played a bad hockey game,” Pecknold told WQUN’s Don Boyle. “Even in the first period we weren’t very good. Bud had a great first period; he made a lot of saves. After that, our goaltending was poor, defensemen were poor, forwards were poor, it was a bad game.”

It was the second period that doomed Quinnipiac. Lazy play by the Bobcats in their own zone allowed Dartmouth to get back into the game. With the Quinnipiac lead at 2-1 and the clock reading 6:12 left in the second period, Dartmouth’s Kyle Reeds had the equalizer when his shot ran up the shoulder of Bobcats goaltender Bud Fisher and into the net.

Nearly four minutes later, Scott Fleming put a dazzling move on Bobcats defender Dan LeFort and roofed the rubber past Fisher. The senior was thrust into the role because freshman Zach Hansen has been added to the injury report after injuring himself last weekend.

“We’re so banged up with Zach Hansen going down; he’s been so great for us,” Pecknold said. ”He’s a breakout machine, he really gets that puck out of the zone. We found a way to overcome a lot of losses this year, but with [Sorteberg] and Bauer out and now Zach, we just couldn’t find a way to do that tonight.”

It was a game that showed very little defensive intensity by Quinnipiac. No one was playing the body in the defensive zone, and Dartmouth took advantage by embarrassing Quinnipiac over the final 40 minutes.

“They’re a young team with a ton of freshmen, and they played hungry,” Pecknold said. “They wanted the game tonight and we just showed up and put the skates on. We talk a lot about playing hungry, and ‘how bad do you want it?’. The team that wanted the game tonight won the game, and they deserved to win.”

So now, Quinnipiac has to find a way to recuperate from Friday’s contest and get ready for a hungry Harvard team. It’s a quick turnaround for the Bobcats after the embarrassment suffered at Thompson Arena.

“We’ll have to find a way [tomorrow night],” Pecknold said. “We have a good team, we’ll have a gut check and come out tomorrow and play well.”

NOTES: Dartmouth out-shot Quinnipiac 43-23 for the game, and 34-15 over the final two periods. … Quinnipiac was a perfect 2-2 on the power play. … The margin of defeat is the largest for Quinnipiac since the start of last season when they lost 6-1 against North Dakota to begin the season. … It is their largest conference defeat since a 6-0 thrashing against Cornell on Jan. 13, 2006 . … The loss is also Quinnipiac’s first loss to an ECAC Hockey team since November 30 when they fell to Union. They were 7-0-2 in league play during that span.

WQAQ Sports names Tia Wishart Athlete of the Week

Tia Wishart named WQAQ Sports Athlete of the Week

The WQAQ Sports Department has named women’s hockey freshman goaltender Tia Wishart as its Athlete of the Week for the week ending on February 13, 2008.

Wishart backstopped the Quinnipiac women’s hockey team to a 3 point weekend last weekend thanks to two dazzling displays in the crease.

On Friday night, she stopped 50 shots, 40 of them coming in the 2nd and 3rd periods to help Quinnipiac defeat Brown University 5-4.

On Saturday, she stopped another 50 shots, 28 of them coming in the 3rd period and overtime, in a 3-3 deadlock against rival Yale University.

It’s the 2nd and 3rd times this season Wishart has had to stop at least 50 shots. The other game came against Mercyhurst on January 26.

Wishart also won the ECAC Hockey Women’s Goaltender of the Week award from the league office for her spectacular efforts.

The Women’s Ice Hockey team is back in action on Friday night and Saturday afternoon against Dartmouth and #1 Harvard. Both games can be heard on the Bobcats Sports Network presented by WQAQ, with the pre-game show commencing roughly 10 minutes before the opening face-off.

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Bobcats fall to Wagner in overtime despite valiant effort

Bobcats fall to Wagner in overtime despite valiant effort

By Michael T. Lyle, Jr.
WQAQ.com Sports

February 11, 2008

HAMDEN — Without DeMario Anderson, Quinnipiac gave visiting Wagner everything they could handle in what was deemed a critical Northeast Conference matchup Monday night. However, with the star guard back in his hometown of Oxon Hill, MD, tending to a family emergency, the Seahawks were simply too fast and too aggressive for the short-handed Bobcats down the stretch.

Sophomore guard Casey Cosgrove tied a career-high with 16 points, but Wagner, behind some clutch shooting from Joey Mundweiler, outscored Quinnipiac, 20-8, in overtime as the Seahawks came away with an 82-70 victory in front of 1,138 at TD Banknorth SportsCenter. The win was especially huge for Wagner, not only because they clinched a playoff berth in the upcoming NEC tournament, but they claimed sole possession of third place in the conference, leaving the Bobcats 3 1/2 games back of first-place Sacred Heart, and only a half-game up in the loss column on Central Connecticut State.

It’s an effort that DeMario would’ve been proud of, and many on the Quinnipiac coaching squad will say that this was a game the Bobcats had well in hand. They did, in fact, seem seconds away from pulling off a stunning upset, but the Seahawks (17-6, 10-2 Northeast Conference) withstood a defensive stand by the Bobcats with 45 seconds left.

After Cosgrove sank a pair of free throws to give Quinnipiac a 62-59 lead, Wagner worked their offense around the perimeter and eventually found Mundweiler for a wide-open three-pointer from the right corner of the baseline. His attempt was too strong, as was Mark Porter’s from the top of the key. Quinnipiac had a chance to snag the rebound, but they couldn’t get a handle on the loose ball, which eventually fell back into the hands of Mundweiler, who silenced the raucous crowd by knocking down the wide-open, game-tying shot with 18 seconds to go.

The Bobcats had a chance to win at the horn, but Cosgrove’s runner in the lane was too strong. That turned out to be the last time the Bobcats kept pace with the Seahawks, thanks to Mundweiler. He scored eight of his game-high 19 points in the extra-session , including a big three-pointer that sealed the win for Wagner with 1:33 left, making it 74-66. The field goal was preceded by an alley-oop two-hand jam by Jamal Smith from Porter, as the Seahawks took advantage without the Bobcats’ senior captain.

“We come up with that rebound in regulation, we win the game,” Bobcats Assistant head coach Scott Burrell told WQUN after the game. “We hung in there and fought hard, but we’ll have to grow from this.”

Bryan Geffen scored 15 points and Karl Anderson added 12 for Quinnipiac (12-11, 8-4 NEC), which lost its second-straight. Smith and Porter rounded out a balanced scoring attack by Wagner, scoring 17 and 18 points, respectively.

The contest stayed close for most of the game, as the Bobcats played “inspired basketball” without DeMario on the floor. They had a chance to extend a 31-26 lead in the final seconds of the first half, but Porter cut into the deficit on a buzzer-beating three-pointer from near NBA range.

Late in the second half, both teams began making the battle interesting. After an alley-oop conversion by Durrell Vinson gave Wagner at 57-54 lead with 3:16 to go, Geffen put the Bobcats in front, 60-59, on a spectacular running hook-shot off the glass. It came moments after he knocked down a three-pointer to help Quinnipiac draw even with the Seahawks, 58-58 with a little over two minutes remaining.

NOTE: It was announced during the WQUN broadcast that Coach Tom Moore told DeMario to take all the time he needs before returning to the team, which could come either Thursday night at Long Island or Saturday at Mount Saint Mary’s.

Bobcats hang on against Central

Bobcats hang on against Central
by Kevin Lo
February 11, 2008

HAMDEN, Conn. – With 1:51 left the Central Connecticut Blue Devils managed to cut what was once a 15 point Quinnipiac lead to just 5. The Bobcats lead by 4 with a minute left until Kerrianne Dugan snuck in the paint for a put back to cut the lead to 2. Brianna Rooney was sent to the line and hit both with 18.7 left to lift Quinnipiac back to a four point lead. A last second lay-up attempt by Jhaney Harris was no good and Erin Kerner was fouled with 2.6 seconds left. After making both free throws, the final read 72-66 Quinnipiac.

The Bobcats won their fourth game in a row, 72-66, as they survived a late rally by the Central Connecticut Blue Devils.

The first half was filled with ups, downs and plenty of three pointers. The Bobcats took an early 8 point lead at the 12:40 mark but struggled to defend it. Central Connecticut continued to chip away at the lead with a barrage of threes. They got as close as 5, three times but just couldn’t seemed to pull away with the lead.

Timely three pointers kept Central Connecticut close but the Bobcats capitalized on too many turnovers. They scored 16 points on turnovers in the first half while Central Connecticut was only able to muster a mere 5 points.

Erin Kerner and Nicole Duperron complied almost half the offenses points in the first half going for 12 and 8 points. Kerner was 4-7 from downtown and Duperron was 4-4 from the field.

The start of second half began in a similar fashion. The Blue Devils continued to take stabs at the lead but could not seem to break away from the 10 point deficit. The Bobcats continued to gradually build their lead and led by 12 with 11 left in the second half.

The Bobcats worked their way up to a 15 point lead at the 9 minute mark. They led by at least 10 for most off the second half as Central Connecticut continued to struggle offensively until the 5 minute mark where they cut the deficit to single digits and made it a 2 point game at the end.

Quinnipiac dominated in the paint doubling the Blue Devils scoring output 20-10. They also capitalized on the Blue Devils turnovers scoring 22 points compared to the Blue Devils 15 off turnovers.

Quinnipiac returns to action Saturday, when they travel to Emmitsburg, Md., to take on Mount St. Mary’s. Opening tip is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Knott Arena.

Bobcats overcome slow start, beat Brown

Bobcats overcome slow start, beat Brown
by Seth Rothman
February 10, 2008

HAMDEN — It was the definition of a trap game.

Facing a team that has won two games since November, on a Sunday afternoon with very little noise in the building, the game after the most highly anticipated matchup of the year — this one had all the makings of a contest that would trap Quinnipiac.

Fortunately for the Bobcats, the cheese remains on the trap as Quinnipiac (17-7-4, 9-3-4 ECAC) took care of business in a workmanlike 3-0 victory over Brown University (3-16-4, 3-10-3 ECAC) at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden on Sunday afternoon.

Quinnipiac came out slowly in the first period, and had to fend off 13 of the first 17 shots taken in the game. Bobcats goaltender Bud Fisher was able to stop each shot, but allowed rebounds fluttering in front of the net that went unclaimed by any Bears players. Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said the first period was flat due to the odd start time, but he’s thankful he was able to get his players to wake up for the final forty minutes.

“We talked about it, we addressed it in many different ways. I tried to switch the lines up to give us a little bit of life,” Pecknold said. “Unfortunately, I do not think we had a good first period; I thought we were real fortunate to get out of there with a 1-0 lead. We addressed it again at the end of the first, and I thought we played a much better 2nd and 3rd. I think we pretty much took over the game.”

The Bobcats had that 1-0 lead thanks to a fortunate bounce.

With just over one minute left in the opening stanza, Brown’s Jordan Lietrus took a hard hit and fell to the ice. While he laid there in pain, Quinnipiac’s Mike Atkinson was able to find the puck and back-hand it into the net past Brown goaltender Dan Rosen (32 saves) to give Quinnipiac the lead. Sophomores Greg Holt and Eric Lampe assisted on Atkinson’s fourth tally of the season. 

“The puck went into the corner, my two line-mates did a great job working it down low, it just fell right onto my stick,” Atkinson said. “Goalie went out to poke-check it, and I put a no-look right into the net. Nothing pretty, but that’s kind of how mine usually go in. Real good work on my linemates’ part, and I was where I needed to be.”

“12:30 games are not something we’re used to,” senior forward Dan Travis said. “I was up at 8; haven’t done that all year. It’s a little weird — usually at 12:30, we’re right in the middle of practice. We came out a little flat, but Mookie (Atkinson) got that goal in the first to at least give us the lead. That was the only good thing in the first period.”

Even though Quinnipiac scored their first goal in the opening stanza, Pecknold didn’t think his team had awoken from the slumber that comes with playing a game at such an early hour — and he let his team know he was displeased.

“We had a little talk with the team and I think that’s when we finally got our energy level up,” Pecknold said. ”We had a couple fleeting moments in the first. I thought our intensity in the first period was poor.”

“A little talk from Coach [got us going],” Travis said. “There’s two points in the line, and we had to mature a little bit and realize that. We had to put the odd game time and everything behind us and move forward.”

After a scoreless second period marred by poor stick-handling by both teams, Quinnipiac was quick to get on the board in the third.

At 3:42 of the third period, Quinnipiac struck on a 3v1 break. Chris Myers, who has only played 12 games all year due to nagging injuries, brought the puck into the zone. He fed line-mate Isak Tranvik on the far side, who winged a pass to Travis on the near side. The senior from Wilton, New Hampshire buried the rubber, and Quinnipiac had a 2-0 lead.

Brandon Wong added an empty netter with 28 seconds left to complete the scoring. Tranvik picked up his fourth helper of the season on the tally.

For Quinnipiac, the win gives them another four point weekend. In their last four league weekends, Quinnipiac has picked up 14 of a possible 16 points.

“Anytime you can get points is big,” Pecknold said. “Certainly this late in the year, it’s the home stretch. We’re hoping we can finish in the top four and get a first round bye. Four points is big at this point.”

“It’s huge. Anytime you get four points in a weekend, it’s huge,” Travis said. “Especially for us, we’re battling to get that top slot, trying to stay in the top 4. It’s big for us, but we have to keep it going now. It’s behind us now, and we have to look forward.”

“That’s huge at this point in the season,” Bobcats net-minder Bud Fisher said. “We’re right in the race and a lot of teams are getting points right now. Coming into this weekend, we needed to do that.”

It’s especially big because of what happened around the league on Saturday. Clarkson, who leads the league by 2 points, tied Colgate, Princeton defeated Yale, and Cornell was felled by St. Lawrence.

That means, after today’s win, Quinnipiac is tied for 2nd, but now only two points out of the top spot in the league. They play Clarkson to end the season on March 1.

“Before I went to bed I checked [the scoreboard] out,” Fisher said. “I’m sure a lot of the guys did the same thing and I’m sure Coach was all over those games.”

Fisher had himself another solid weekend, stopping 49 of the 50 shots he saw. Today’s shutout is his 3rd of the season and 9th all-time. He’s already eclipsed the record for career shutouts as a Bobcat, and is now creating the new bar.

“I thought Bud played well. We did a good job in front of him,” Pecknold said. “Tonight we gave up a lot of perimeter shots. Quality chances weren’t there, but he did what he needed to do. He made saves in the first period when he needed to, and anytime you get a shutout in this league is great.”

“First period, Brown played great; I had a lot of shots early,” Fisher said. “The guys did a good job collapsing to the net; I gave up some rebounds, but the guys cleared them right out. They made it easy for me in that respect. Second period we picked it up, and eliminated a lot of their scoring chances.”

For the players, the start time was odd. But what was even more odd was the noise level in the building. It certainly did not have the intensity of the game against Yale forty hours earlier.

“It’s a little bit different from the game on Friday against Yale,” Fisher said. “We have a huge rivalry with Yale. This game, we knew was huge in the standings and we knew they were going to come out flying. It wasn’t too hard to get up for.”

“The building was shaking on Friday, and today there was kind of a lull,” Atkinson said. “You can’t expect too many kids to be here at noon on a Sunday. It wasn’t the ideal time slot, but they had to play at the same time as we did. We came a little bit better prepared than them and took the W. It was a good team win. We played great after the first, and that’s what you have to do to win.”  

NOTES: After getting out-shot 13-4 to start the game, Quinnipiac out-shot the Bears 31-12 over the remainder of the contest. … Only eight penalties were called all game. … Quinnipiac is back in action on Friday at Dartmouth, followed the following night by a trip to Cambridge, Mass. to face Harvard. … Sunday’s attendance was listed at 2,833. … The Bobcats are back at the TD Banknorth Sports Center on February 22. Both of their remaining home games are sold out — only standing room tickets remain available.

Women’s Hoops rolls through Wagner

Women’s Hoops rolls through Wagner
by Kevin Lo
February 9, 2008

HAMDEN, Conn. – The Bobcats took an early lead at the half, 43-19, and never looked back. They started the second half on a 22-2 run that spanned over the next 8 minutes of the game and finished the game with a 79-35 win.

The Bobcats held Wagner to only 6 second half points through the first 15 minutes of the half. They finished the half with 16 points.

With 11 minutes left to go in the first half the Bobcats decided enough was enough. The two teams traded baskets for the first 9 min of the game until strong post play by the Bobcats allowed them to pull away.

Courtney Kaminski and Nicole Duperron dominated the low post finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds and 10 points and 7 rebounds respectively. The Bobcats outscored Wagner 38 -6 in the paint and out rebounded them 51 – 23. The second chance opportunities allowed Quinnipiac to score easily and lengthen their leads.

The Bobcats suffocating defense forced Wagner to commit 25 turnovers which lead to 38 of Quinnipiac’s points.

Wagner shot 16% in the second half and finished with 16 points in the half. They shot 24% overall and struggled to find a rhythm in the 2nd half offensively and defensively as they were plagued by moving pick and traveling calls.

Erin Kerner led the team with 18 points and Mandy Pennewell chipped in 12 points as they helped lead a balanced attack where each starter scored at least seven points.

This was the Bobcats second win in a row and third at home. Their next game is Monday, Feb. 11 when they host Central Connecticut State at 5 p.m. at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden, Conn.

Bobcats dominate Yale behind raucous, record crowd

Bobcats dominate Yale behind raucous, record crowd
by Seth Rothman
February 8, 2008

HAMDEN — On Thursday night, Central Connecticut State continued its dominance over Quinnipiac’s men’s basketball team.

On Friday night, the Bobcats men’s hockey team continued its dominance over Yale (10-8-4, 6-5-4 ECAC), defeating the Bulldogs 5-1 in front of a deafeningly raucous crowd of 4,213 at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden.

Even though the two schools are less than ten miles apart, Yale coach Keith Allain has maintained he doesn’t consider the Quinnipiac game a rivalry game.

Tell that to Quinnipiac (16-7-4, 8-3-4 ECAC) and its student section, which was full — and screaming – nearly 45 minutes before the game started.

“The buildup all week on our campus was great. This was big-time hockey tonight,” Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold said. “I don’t know how many were in the building at 6:15-6:20, but it was great. We had a ton of students here tonight screaming and yelling. It was loud, and you could really feel it. The game we played at Yale was a good hockey game, but the students weren’t there. It’s a different atmosphere when students are around.”

It took Quinnipiac some time to get rolling, though. The nerves in the first period contributed to multiple mistakes, and both teams were only able to muster five first period shots each.

“We played a little bit sluggish in the first — we were ready to play, but we were a little nervous,” Pecknold said. “The guys were nervous in the first, and settled down and played much better hockey in the second and third. The thing we wanted to focus on in the third was winning battles and getting pucks to the net. Early in the game we hesitated to get pucks to the net. Yale did a great job collapsing to the net and clearing some rebounds.”

But with just over two minutes to play in the first period, Quinnipiac got on the board. After Yale took a penalty for having too many men on the ice, junior Dan Henningson fired a shot from the point that was deflected by senior Dan Travis and past Eli goaltender Billy Blase.

“We kept it simple. There wasn’t much as far as plays, fore-checks, back-checks, or anything like that. When we’re good we keep it simple,” Travis said. “We have great forwards to carry the puck, get to the net, and score goals. Besides [Dan] LeFort’s goal, I don’t think we had a highlight-reel goal.”

The hard work was evident right from the opening face-off for the Bobcats. Late in the second period, Quinnipiac was pinned in their own zone on a 4v3. When Zach Hansen broke his stick on the penalty kill, things looked dire for Quinnipiac. But Mike Atkinson, who gave Hansen his stick, blocked multiple shots, bringing the overflow crowd to its feet and eliciting the loudest roar of the night.

“They did a great job. They blocked a lot of shots, did a lot of good things: stick on puck, denying shots,” Pecknold said of his defense. “Both teams were very good defensively tonight. We did a nice job, and our face-off intensity was good, also.”

“Hansen broke his stick, Atkinson gave him his stick, and one time Hansen tried clearing the puck but the stick was the wrong hand,” Bobcats junior goaltender Bud Fisher said. “Mike Atkinson probably blocked three or four shots. Guys were laying their bodies down, I don’t even know if I had a shot in that sequence. We played great defensively.”

Quinnipiac was amped to play this game. Huge crowd, big rival, it was the epitome of a playoff atmosphere inside the TD Banknorth Sports Center. Pecknold wishes he could bottle the Bobcats intensity and use it for games with less juice.

“It’s hard to do it every game, I’d be coaching in the NHL if I could figure that out,” Pecknold said. “You want to play hard every night, and I think we do a fairly good job — that’s why we’re successful.”

“We were all really excited to play this game. We get up for the Heroes Hat, I think we set an attendance record, and with that support behind us we were really geared up for this game,” Fisher said. “We were really excited coming in. We worked really hard and the guys played awesome.”

“A lot of guys prior to us didn’t get a chance to play them. To hear that from some of the guys — one being [assistant coach] Scott Robson, who never had a chance to play these guys; they always wanted to, but [Yale] wouldn’t play them,” Travis said. “We’ve had that in the back of our minds, it’s definitely nice to get a win. Beating Yale is big for us. It’s our rivalry game whether [Yale] cares about it or not.”

“We’re coming into the league, we really don’t have rivalries with teams in this league,” Pecknold said. “We have rivalries with teams we used to play against, like UConn, Mercyhurst, and Holy Cross. There’s no question; we’re five miles apart, it’s a rivalry. My kids were ready to play, they were fired up.”

When the second period ended, Quinnipiac held a slim 2-1 lead. Pecknold said he has a very strong message for his team in the locker room during the 2nd intermission.

“I told them not to sit back and try to protect a one goal lead with the prevent defense. We were going to go after them,” Pecknold said. “We struggled early in the game getting pucks to the net. We took so long to do it, and Yale was so good at collapsing to the net.”

Quinnipiac’s insurance goal was exactly that.

Sophomore Jean-Marc Beaudoin brought the puck behind the net where he slipped it to sophomore sniper Brandon Wong. He wrapped around, got stopped by Blase, and followed up with the game-breaker on the doorstep to give Quinnipiac the two-goal lead 46 seconds into the final stanza.

“The Wong goal was huge right out of the gate, he attacked the net and that’s what we want to do,” Pecknold said. “I feel very fortunate that we won the game tonight, I thought it could have gone either way going into the third. Yale played a really good first 2 periods, and Brandon Wong took over with that goal.”

“Jean-Marc had the puck, I kept yelling at him to give me the puck,” Wong said. ”He heard me and kept taking it behind the net and dished it back. [Blase] made a nice first save, and I just put it into the net.”

Yale coach Keith Allain was frustrated with his team, and didn’t even make an appearance for the post-game press conference. Instead, he released a statement through Yale Sports Publicity Director Steve Conn.

“Its hard to win a game when you give up 4 goals on the first 15 shots on net,” Allain’s statement said. “We probably played OK tonight, but did nothing particularly well. For us to be successful, we need all 20 players to suit up and play well.”

While Yale’s locker room was frustrated, Quinnipiac’s was elated.

“The game at Yale didn’t have the same intensity it had tonight,” Pecknold said. “My guys were fired up to play Yale [in January]. Tonight, playing at home with everything that went on, Quinnipiac did a great job of staging this game. From the color guard, the guy who sang the national anthem was great, I just thought it was an event. My kids stepped up to the plate and protected home ice.”

When the building’s really buzzing, you feel it and feed off it,” Fisher said. “It’s an edge for us when the crowd’s always into it.”

“It was big-time tonight. I heard the number: 4,200 were at the game tonight,” Travis said. “When we’re in warm-ups and its loud, we know it’s going to be a big one. They had the noisemakers going tonight, it was a lot of fun. We had a good time out there.”

When teams score goals at the pace Quinnipiac did on Friday, most forget about the goaltender. But Fisher earned high praise from his coach.

“He played very well. Sometimes you overlook the goalie because you score five goals, but he was really good,” Pecknold said. “Right before they scored their goal, on the 4v3 sequence he was great. We blocked a lot of shots, and I thought Bud was very good.”

“Yale shoots from everywhere, so I just wanted to be real aggressive, be square, and let pucks hit me,” Fisher said. “The guys took away passes, and a lot of pucks hit me.”

So now, Quinnipiac has one day to practice before playing Brown on Sunday afternoon on NESN.

“Brown’s playing better, they swept Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend, so we need to refocus in practice tomorrow and come out ready to play,” Pecknold said. “Sunday will tell the tale. If we have a hangover from this, then we’re not on track.”

“You want to take the positives from this game,” Wong said. ”We played very well tonight — personally I think it’s one of our best games this year. We have to get back on another roll.”

“We have to refocus again. It’s another league game, a big two points, and I’m assuming it’s not going to have quite the electricity, being a Sunday day game,” Travis said. “We have to do our job, get two points, and move on.”

NOTES: Friday’s attendance was a TD Banknorth Sports Center record, breaking the old record set on November 9, 2007 when 3,444 fans packed the building for Quinnipiac’s contest against Clarkson. … The building lists a capacity of 3,286 for hockey games. … The game is the second highest attended Quinnipiac home game ever, second only to Quinnipiac’s inaugural ECAC game against Harvard at the Hartford Civic Center. That game was attended by 5,049. … Quinnipiac now stands tied for 2nd place in ECAC Hockey at 20 points. Clarkson is three points ahead of both Princeton and the Bobcats. Cornell falls to 4th place at 19. … During the first intermission, fans threw hundreds of teddy bears onto the ice as part of a fund-raising effort. 

Central defeats Quinnipiac… again

Central defeats Quinnipiac… again
by Seth Rothman
February 7, 2008

HAMDEN — They’ve done it again.

Thanks in large part to a 33-16 Central Connecticut State run over the first 11 minutes of the second half, Central Connecticut State rolled to an 85-71 win over Quinnipiac at the TD Banknorth Sports Center on Thursday night.

Quinnipiac is now 2-25 in their last 27 games against Central, and 2-18 against the Blue Devils since joining the Northeast Conference in 1998. The Bobcats have also lost their last 10 games in Hamden against their counterparts from New Britain, Conn.

After the game, Quinnipiac head coach Tom Moore was embarrassed by how easily the Blue Devils (11-12, 7-5 NEC) controlled Quinnipiac (12-10, 8-3 NEC).

“We got handled out of the gate and got handled the entire second half on the offensive boards, and the way they executed their offense,” Moore said. “They were the tougher-minded team throughout the whole game. We had some spots where we made some shots and stood up to them. We never out-toughed them, but we stood up to them. That’s the first time it’s happened all year to us, so it’s startling and embarrassing to have it happen in front of [2,841] people.”

“Coach [Dickenman] makes them play hard. They out-toughed us,” Bobcats sophomore Casey Cosgrove said. “They were ready and wanted it more, and the final score showed it –  the entire game showed it.”

“We just got outplayed. Rebounds, defending, offense. It was all across the board,” Bobcats captain DeMario Anderson said. “We couldn’t match their energy on offense or defense, and the final score showed it.”

Anderson, who scored 12 points, was defended by Central’s biggest offensive threat, senior Tristan Blackwood. DeMario said he wasn’t fazed by playing his old team — it’s the third time he’s done it. He gave credit to Blackwood for shutting him down.

“I was a little amped up, but this is my third time playing them, so it’s not anything I’m not used to,” Anderson said. “Tip of the hat to Tristan Blackwood — he did a great job defending me.”

The point total is DeMario’s lowest since December 16 against UConn when he scored only 10 points.

“Tristan was very strong tonight, incredibly strong. Strength of mind, strength of body — all phases of the game,” Moore said. ”That’s a risky move to put their best offensive player on our best offensive player, but they did it. He played very physical, but didn’t foul. He frustrated DeMario into a couple bad shots.”

“He’s a good player, so our focus was to keep him down,” Blackwood said. “He’s a good player, he’s going to get his, so we just have to try to play good defense.”

“DeMario Anderson is one of the best players in the league, and Tristan denied him so many times that I think Quinnipiac got out of rhythm,” Central coach Howie Dickenman said. They depend so much on DeMario that they felt a little lost without him out there.”

For Quinnipiac, the intensity wasn’t where they wanted it to be, and it showed when Central went on their run to start the second half. Quinnipiac tied the score and even took the lead before the end of the first half, but once the teams returned to the floor, it was all Blue Devils.

“They just out-toughed us. Everything they did was better than us tonight,” Cosgrove said. ”They crashed the boards and controlled the game. They beat us pretty good. We feel like we’re the better team, but that wasn’t the case today.”

The stat sheet shows Quinnipiac actually out-rebounded Central 48-42, and 23-17 on the offensive glass. Moore says that stat is deceiving.

“I felt they were twice as good a rebounding team all night,” a visibly frustrated Moore said. “The numbers look so skewed from us having to play crazy in the last five minutes. That’s the most deceiving stat we’ve had all year. They were clearly better, tougher, and more consistent rebounding tonight.”

So now, Quinnipiac has to get ready for Wagner on Monday in Hamden. Moore says it won’t be an easy task.

“Wagner has a reputation for being a physical, tough team. We just looked so weak tonight, I’d rather play anyone other than Wagner on Monday after how we played tonight,” Moore said. “We have two practices to get our house in order. I’ll watch the tape and look at some personnel switches. A night like this, in such a big spot when so many kids come up so short, as a coach it really makes you shuffle the deck a little bit.”

“It’s a tough loss, but it’s a long season,” Anderson said. “We have a lot of games left. Wagner’s going to be another very tough game. We just have to keep our heads up and take this as a learning experience.”