Women’s ice hockey hosts Cornell at 4 PM

The Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team looks to build off of last night’s 1-1 tie against the Colgate Raiders when they host the nationally ranked Cornell Big Red this afternoon at 4 p.m. in Hamden. Jamie Palatini and Ross Montolio will be on the call, with the broadcast set to start on the hockey stream at approximately 3:55 p.m.

Cadieux, Zurevinski save Bobcats in ugly OT win

By Jamie Palatini

HAMDEN – Last weekend, the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team shocked the nation with two convincing road victories against then 17^th ranked Ohio State University.

This weekend, the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team shocked the home crowd with their lackluster, uninspired performance.

Scott Zurevinski’s goal 29 seconds into overtime saved the Bobcats from any further embarrassment, giving Quinnipiac the 3-2 win over the Bentley Falcons in Quinnipiac’s home opener at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden. Quinnipiac improves to 3-0-0 with the win, while Bentley drops to 0-2-0. Quinnipiac came into the game as the clear favorite, but played as if it were the underdog.

“I thought our energy was terrible tonight, and I thought Bentley was the better team tonight,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “We got outworked in all three zones all night…we stole a win tonight.”

Things started out well enough for the Bobcats, who got the scoring started early in the first period. Three minutes into play, freshman Reese Rolheiser’s shot from the right point deflected off of a Bentley stick and snuck over the left shoulder of Bentley goaltender Kyle Rank. It was the Edmonton, Alberta native’s first career goal and it gave the home team the early 1-0 advantage.

Bentley was able to counter just four minutes and 30 seconds later. Following a faceoff in the Quinnipiac zone, the Falcons peppered Quinnipiac goaltender Mathieu Cadieux with shots until a rebound came to forward Jamie Nudy. Cadieux was off to the far side of the crease after making a few saves, and Nudy put the rebound into the relatively open net to even the score at one.

Cadieux finished with 25 saves in his first career start to earn the victory. The freshman allowed two goals, but made some key saves down the stretch in order to keep the Bobcats in the game.

“He played well,” Pecknold said. “We didn’t play well in front of him, that’s for sure. Our freshmen D were playing like freshmen D, and our vets weren’t really good either. He did a nice job, he battled for us today and that’s a good win.”

Brandon Wong gave the Bobcats a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. Freshman D’Arcy Oakes put a shot on net which was initially saved by Rank, but Wong kept jamming away at the loose puck in the crease before sliding it past the Falcons’ goaltender to put Quinnipiac up by one.

Early on in the second period, the Falcons drew even again. After a turnover along the boards in the Bobcats’ zone, Bentley had a two-on-one and took advantage. Dan Koudys collected the puck and slipped a pass to Kane Osmars, who slid the puck to right of Cadieux to tie the game at two.

The score remained that way through the rest of the second period and the third period before Zurevinski’s OT game-winner. Quinnipiac outshot Bentley 16-9 in the final stanza, but it was the Falcons who controlled the play for the most part. The Bobcats struggled bringing the puck out of their own zone all game long, and had numerous turnovers in the neutral zone. Pecknold attributed the team’s struggles to his young players showing their youth.

“You’ve got a ton of freshmen here and they were struggling,” Pecknold said. “Sloppy…we have a certain breakout to work, and they weren’t working it. It all comes from poor mental preparation. We weren’t ready to play the game, and we were in scramble mode all night”

The Bobcats will look to bounce back this upcoming weekend when they head to Moon Township, Penn. to take on Robert Morris for a two-game series. The first game of that series is scheduled for 7 PM on Friday night, with Bill Schweizer and Ken Sweeten providing the call on 1220 WQUN-AM and wqun.com.

Women’s Ice Hockey Home Opener at 2 PM

Quinnipiac’s women’s ice hockey team opens up their season tomorrow when they host the Sacred Heart Pioneers at the TD Bank Sports Center at 2 p.m. in Hamden. Jamie Palatini will provide the play-by-play and Brian Farrell will add color commentary. The game can be heard live on the WQAQ hockey stream, and the broadcast is scheduled to begin at 1:55 p.m. ET.

Bobcats lose temper, game to Brown

By Jamie Palatini

After the final whistle blew in Quinnipiac’s men’s ice hockey game against Brown, the Bobcats showed more fire and energy than they did in 60 minutes of play.

Quinnipiac (15-14-3. 8-9-3 ECAC) followed up an embarrassing performance with an even more embarrassing display of sportsmanship, inciting a full out brawl after a 3-2 loss to the lowly Brown Bears (3-20-4, 3-14-3) at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.

The fracas fired up behind the Brown net, with David Marshall, Eric Lampe and Zach Hansen all involved for the Bobcats. It was unclear who started the fight, but all three received game misconducts and disqualifications which will force them to miss the Bobcats’ next game at Harvard.

Saturday’s lackluster performance came on the heels of one of Quinnipiac’s best games, a 3-3 tie against ECAC leader and crosstown rival Yale. But the Bobcats played with only a fraction of that intensity and energy against a Brown team in the basement of the ECAC and only two wins to its name all season.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Brown, but from our standpoint I’m really disappointed with how we played,” Pecknold said. “We’re battling for a home-ice playoff spot, and the guys just kind of showed up at the rink tonight.”

Tonight was Quinnipiac’s final home game, which was preceded by Senior Night festivities honoring seven players who were participating in their final game on home ice. Both of the Bobcats’ goals were scored by seniors, Marshall and Bryan Leitch, but Pecknold felt the negatives far outweighed the positives.

“I’m disappointed in my seniors, and I’m really disappointed in my captains,” Pecknold said. “We’re just not getting the leadership that we need.”

With 4:10 remaining in the first period, Brown took the lead. While on the power play, Jeremy Russell’s pass was deflected through the slot into the left faceoff circle. Senior goalie Bud Fisher slid across the crease to try and recover, but Matt Vokes got to the loose puck and lifted it over Fisher to give Brown the 1-0 lead.

Quinnipiac had two 5-on-3 advantages in the second period, and was able to score on the latter. Marshall skated into the slot of the Brown zone untouched, and fired a snap shot into the top right corner of the net past Brown goalie Michael Clemente. It was Marshall’s 18th goal of the season, and Quinnipiac had tied the game at one.

But with 2:16 to go in the second period, the Bears retook the lead. Freshman defenseman Michael Wolff’s soft wrist shot seemingly had eyes and fluttered past a screened Fisher to give Brown the 2-1 advantage.

Just over four minutes into the third period, Brown extended their lead. After Andrew Meyer failed to clear the puck, Jordan Pietrus picked up the loose puck and passed it to Sean McMonagle. Fisher caught a piece of Pietrus’ shot, but not enough of it as the puck trickled in behind him to spot Brown a two-goal lead.

“That’s the hockey game right there,” Pecknold said. “If you’re looking for the pivotal moment, it’s right there…two seniors with no urgency.”

Leitch scored with 35 seconds remaining to pull Quinnipiac within a goal, but the Bobcats were unable to score the equalizer.

The Bobcats currently sit in seventh place in the ECAC, and are now in danger of having to travel on the road for the first round of the playoffs. They’ll look to regroup on Friday when they travel to Cambridge, Mass., to play Harvard.

Click here to view the box score from this game.

Henningson leads the way, Bobcats snap four-game skid

By Jamie Palatini

With 6:28 remaining in the third period of Saturday night’s game between Quinnipiac and Clarkson, the Bobcats were clinging to 4-3 lead. Quinnipiac had just seen its three-goal lead slashed to one in a span of 12 seconds. Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold called a timeout, and gathered his team around the bench to talk things over.

“I know what I was going to tell them,” Pecknold said. “But Dan Henningson took over the timeout.”

The Bobcats’ captain led his team vocally on the bench, and led by example on the ice with a goal and an assist as Quinnipiac (15-13-2, 8-8-2 ECAC Hockey) defeated Clarkson (8-16-6, 6-9-3 ECAC Hockey) by a score of 5-3 at the TD Banknorth Center on Saturday night. Following three consecutive overtime defeats, the man wearing the “C” for the Bobcats knew how important it was to come away with a win.

“I think they’re all must wins now,” Henningson said. “We have to take it one game at a time, and every game is huge.”

During that timeout in the third period, Henningson reminded his teammates of what happened in the 2006-2007 ECAC Hockey Championship game against the same Clarkson team. In that game, the Bobcats held a 2-0 lead heading into the third period, but ended up squandering the lead and eventually lost 4-2. Since then, Quinnipiac is 32-0-3 in games they’ve lead after two periods. The Captain couldn’t help but be a little nervous with shades of ’07 in his mind.

“Well, maybe we were a little panicked after the last few games,” Henningson said. “But we kept our cool.”

Senior forward David Marshall has played with Henningson for four years at Quinnipiac, and knows what he brings to the team on and off the ice.

“Henny is definitely a quiet leader, he’s not a vocal guy,” Marshall said. “To hear him speak up perks everyone’s ears up. But when he’s talking, he definitely has something to say.”

Marshall scored his team-leading 17th goal of the season on a 5-on-3 power play to give Quinnipiac a 4-1 lead in the third period, and broke a school record in the process. It was the 68th goal of his career, which eclipsed Chris Cerrella’s career mark of 67, and made Marshall the Quinnipiac Division I record holder in goals scored.

For the second night in a row, the Bobcats fell behind early in the first period. A bad turnover in the Clarkson zone by Bryan Leitch led to a two-on-one for the Golden Knights. Sophomore defenseman Bryan Rufenach’s one-timer off a feed from Scott Freeman was slowed by Quinnipiac goalie Dan Clarke, but trickled through his legs to stake Clarkson an early 1-0 lead.

5:34 into the second period, Henningson stepped up when the Bobcats needed him to. Both teams were skating 4-on-4 until a Shea Guthrie penalty gave Quinnipiac a 4-on-3 advantage. Zach Hansen won the ensuing faceoff in the Clarkson zone back to Henningson, who skated into the slot and took a slap shot that beat Clarkson goalie Paul Karpowich for his fifth goal of the season to tie the game at one.

The Bobcats then tacked on two quick goals just a few minutes later. Chris Myers and Spencer Heichman scored just 48 seconds apart to give Quinnipiac a 3-1 lead which lasted until Marshall’s goal midway through the third made it 4-1. It looked like smooth sailing until Shea Guthrie and Lauri Tuohimaa scored quickly to make things interesting.

Things got even tighter for the Bobcats as the final seconds ticked away. At 4-3 with just under a minute remaining, Clarkson rang a shot off the crossbar that deflected just wide. Eric Lampe made his return to the Bobcats’ lineup on Saturday after missing three games following a concussion, and finished off the scoring with an empty net goal.

“He adds so much depth to our lineup,” Marshall said. “Eric brings intensity and so many little things. He’s one of our best penalty killers too, and it’s definitely great to have him back.”

And if there were ever a game to right the ship, now is the time. Quinnipiac’s next game is against their cross-town rival and ECAC leading Yale on Friday, Feb. 20 in the annual battle for the Heroes’ Hat. Alex Birsh and I will provide the call on the WQAQ Sports stream, and the broadcast is scheduled to get underway at 6:50 p.m.

Click here to view the box score from this game.

Déjà vu all over again: Bobcats fall in OT 4-3

By Jamie Palatini

For the third straight game, the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team needed overtime to settle the game. For the third straight game, they lost.

Jared Ross’s goal 1:06 into overtime gave the St. Lawrence Saints a 4-3 win over the Bobcats at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden. With the win, St. Lawrence improves to 15-11-3, and 7-7-3 in ECAC Hockey. The loss drops Quinnipiac to 14-13-2, and 7-8-2 in ECAC Hockey. The victory catapults the Saints ahead of the Bobcats into fifth place in the very tight ECAC; fourth through 10th places are only separated by four points.

“There’s not much to say,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “It’s frustrating. We’re struggling to keep pucks out of our net right now.”

Last weekend, the Bobcats lost on the road to Cornell 2-1, and then to Colgate 3-2 the following night. Both games went to overtime, and in both cases the Bobcats were shorthanded in overtime when the game-winning goal was scored. Tonight they netted three goals, equaling their total from their previous three games. Pecknold’s concerns aren’t focused on getting the puck in the net.

“I’m just looking for a goalie to win a game for me,” Pecknold said. “I don’t know who my starter is, but we are 12th in the league amongst 12 starters, and it’s killing us. I’m just waiting for one of them to step up and show me they want the job, and I’ll play them every game.”

St. Lawrence jumped on the board just 53 seconds into the game. A wraparound attempt from senior forward Brock McBride hopped on top of Quinnipiac goalie Bud Fisher’s glove and trickled behind him to spot the Saints an early lead.

The Bobcats responded at the 8:42 mark. After senior forward Bryan Leitch narrowly missed the right corner of the net with a wrist shot, he collected his own rebound in the right corner of the St. Lawrence zone. Leitch found linemate David Marshall all alone in front, who lifted the puck over St. Lawrence goalie Alex Petizian for his 16th goal of the season to tie the game at one.

Marshall’s goal marked a major milestone in Quinnipiac Division I history. Marshall now has 67 career goals, which ties him with Chris Cerrella for the all-time Division I record at Quinnipiac.

With 4:30 remaining in the first, the Bobcats took the lead. Chris Myers’ shot from the right faceoff circle flew past Petizian to put Quinnipiac out in front by a score of 2-1.

As they did in the first period, the Saints applied pressure early in the second. Kevin DeVergilio’s initial shot down low was stopped by Fisher, but the senior forward collected his own rebound and put it past the outstretched left leg of Fisher to tie the game at two. St. Lawrence outshot the Bobcats 14-3 in the second period, and kept most of the action in the Bobcats’ zone.

“The second period we just got dominated,” Pecknold said. “There were just so many little things that we did poorly…not getting the puck deep, simple stuff that we didn’t do.”

The score remained that way until a Jared Keller penalty gave the Bobcats a power play opportunity midway through the third. Zach Hansen’s slap shot from the blue line found its way through traffic, deflecting off of a couple Saints’ defenders to give the Bobcats a 3-2 lead.

St. Lawrence struck back less than a minute later. After Fisher made a save on a shot from the left faceoff circle, both teams battled for the loose puck in front of the goal for nearly five seconds, before Alex Curran found the puck and put it past Fisher to quickly tie the game at three.

In the overtime, Ross sent the fans home hanging their heads. Ross stopped a clearing attempt against the boards by the blue line and sent a wrist shot on net that somehow found its way past Fisher to give the Saints the win.

“There was stuff going on in front,” Fisher said. “It got tipped. It was going high, and got tipped down and went five-hole…we’re just not getting the breaks right now.”

Quinnipiac played tonight’s game without two of its prime offensive threats in Brandon Wong and Eric Lampe. Both will miss tomorrow night’s game against Clarkson, and Wong is likely out until at least the ECAC playoffs.

“I hate to make excuses, but we’re just not deep enough to offset two kids (Wong and Lampe) of that caliber,” Pecknold said. “We’re a different team. Even with Mike Glaicar out,  and that’s hurting us. Those are three kids that should be playing right now, and we’re just not deep enough to offset that.”

Leitch assisted on all three goals for the Bobcats, bringing his Division I leading total to 38 on the season. But he and Marshall were also on the ice for three of St. Lawrence’s four goals, a fact that didn’t escape Pecknold.

“A lot of our better players were our worst players tonight, and it’s hard to win games when you play like that,” Pecknold said.

Quinnipiac will look to snap its four game losing streak tomorrow night when they host Clarkson at the TD Banknorth Sports Center. Alex Birsh and Andrew Gau will have the call on the WQAQ Sports Stream. The broadcast is scheduled to begin at 6:50 p.m.

Click here to view the box score from this game.

Raiders spoil Senior Day, Bobcats lose 4-1

By Jamie Palatini

Three second period goals made the difference Saturday afternoon as the Colgate Raiders defeated the Quinnipiac Bobcats’ women’s ice hockey team  4-1 in Hamden on Senior Day. With the win, Colgate improves to 16-9-3 overall, and 10-4-3 in ECAC Hockey. The loss drops Quinnipiac to 3-22-5 (2-11-5 ECAC).

Saturday’s loss comes on the heels of Friday night’s 4-4 tie against Cornell, arguably one of the team’s best games of the season. When asked about the two games this weekend, Quinnipiac head coach Rick Seeley was less than impressed with their performance in the latter contest.

“I don’t think there’s any comparison,” Seeley said. “I thought we came out in the first period and played hard…but I thought we went to sleep in the second, and we just didn’t have that focus or intensity.”

Colgate broke the tie at the 2:32 mark of the second period. The Bobcats tried to clear the puck out of their zone, but Colgate’s Jacquie Colborne tipped the clearing attempt to teammate Marissa Dombovy. The junior forward collected the puck in the slot, and put a wrist shot through Quinnipiac goaltender Tia Wishart’s legs for her seventh goal of the season to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

Nearly halfway through the period, Colgate doubled their lead. Senior defenseman Clancy Todd‘s shot from the point was deftly deflected by junior Beth Rotenberg past Wishart to make it a 2-0 advantage in favor of the Raiders halfway through the game.

With just seven seconds left in the second stanza, they added on to their lead. Junior forward Katie Stewart stole the puck from a Bobcat player along the near boards, and moved in all alone in Wishart. Her shot flew over the left shoulder of Wishart for her 13th goal of the season, and Colgate had a 3-0 lead heading into the second intermission.

Some nifty passing from the Raiders led to their fourth goal. While on a 5-on-3 power play, two quick passes led to a one-timer from Marissa Dombovy who scored her second goal of the game to make it 4-0 Colgate.

Midway through the third, senior forward Elyse Cole erased any possibilities of a shutout. Cole, who is the program’s all-time leader in goals, took a wrist shot from the point that beat Colgate goaltender Kimberly Sass for the Bobcats’ lone goal. Over her four-year career at Quinnipiac, Cole has amassed 43 goals and 28 assists with four games still remaining on the Bobcats’ schedule.

The Bobcats are losing five seniors at the end of this season: senior captain Trudy Reyns, Antoinette Maldonado, Danielle Alexieff, Erika Bolognino and the aforementioned Cole. Although this is only his first year at Quinnipiac, Seeley understands the impact these players had on the team.

“When they’re at their best, they’re great,” Seeley said. “Obviously, we’re going to miss Trudy’s leadership and Elyse’s scoring. [Maldonado] and [Alexieff] have really come together in the second half, so they’re all going to be missed. We’re bringing in some good players, but it’s always hard to replace the seniors.”

But Seeley knows that he has players ready to take over the reins and provide senior leadership next year, most notably current juniors Kallie Flor and Janine Duffy, who combined for three goals in Friday’s game.

“Well there’s no question, as Flor and Duffy go, so goes the team,” Seeley said. “Our goal is to get them a little more consistent, because when they’re playing their best they’re outstanding players…I think those are the two key players for next year.”

The Bobcats have four games remaining on the schedule, all of them on the road. The first two are up in the North Country against current ECAC leader St. Lawrence and Seeley’s former Clarkson team. Despite the poor record and playoff chances essentially out of reach, the Bobcats’ coach is optimistic heading into the final two weeks of the season.

“The great thing about this team is that they’re resilient,” Seeley said. “The record’s not that great, but we know we’re taking strides in the right direction, so the attitude is still great.”

Click here to view the box score from this game.

Bobcats come alive, battle to 4-4 tie

By Jamie Palatini

(HAMDEN, Conn.) The Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team came into Friday night’s game winless in their last seven games.

Tonight, the Bobcats looked like a completely different team.

The Bobcats fought back from deficits of 2-0 and 4-3 to earn a 4-4 tie against the Cornell Big Red Friday night at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden. Quinnipiac’s record now stands at 3-21-5 overall, and 2-10-5 in ECAC Hockey. The Big Red’s record moves to 11-10-3 (7-7-3 ECAC). The Bobcats received a standing ovation from the crowd following a game which Quinnipiac head coach Rick Seeley thought was one of his team’s best performances this season.

“I was really impressed with how hard we worked today,” Seeley said. “I thought it was a great step for our program, and we didn’t get down at all, we just kept battling.”

The Bobcats came into tonight’s game following a poor performance in a 3-0 loss to Brown last Friday, and a 2-1 loss to Yale in which they gave up the final goal with just 3.3 seconds remaining in the game.

4:24 into the first period tonight, Cornell jumped out to the early lead. Freshman forward Chelsea Karpenko made a pass from her own zone to sophomore forward Rebecca Johnston. Johnston made a move past Bobcats’ freshman defenseman Melissa Perry by the left faceoff circle, then cut in and slid the puck through the legs of Quinnipiac goaltender Nanna Holm-Glaas. It was Johnston’s team leading 18th goal of the season, and it gave the Big Red a 1-0 lead.

Just three and a half minutes later, the Big Red doubled their lead. Senior forward Brianne Gilbert entered the Bobcats’ zone along the near boards and made a centering feed near the point to Sam Wauer. The sophomore defenseman fired a wrist shot over the glove of Holm-Glaas for her second goal of the season, and Cornell was up 2-0.

There have been some games this season where Quinnipiac has fallen behind early and seemingly packed it in. Tonight the Bobcats showed resiliency, and it started with two of their team captains. Senior defenseman and team captain Trudy Reyns made a pass from the Quinnipiac zone to assistant captain Kallie Flor. The junior forward skated through the neutral zone and had a two-on-one as she came across the Cornell blue line. Flor decided to keep the puck herself, and fired a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Cornell goaltender Jenny Niesluchowski. It was Flor’s fourth goal of the season, and Quinnipiac was in business, down just a goal with seven minutes remaining in the opening frame.

The score remained that way until the last minute of the second period, where Quinnipiac drew even. Sophomore forward Kelley Davies put a shot on net from the slot which was initially saved by Niesluchowski. But junior forward Janine Duffy found the loose puck in front amidst the Cornell defense, and put the rebound past Niesluchowski. The momentum had swung fully in the Bobcats’ direction, and heading into the third period Quinnipiac and Cornell were knotted at two.

1:45 into the third period, Quinnipiac completed the comeback. Reyns kept a clearing attempt in the Cornell zone by the blue line. She took a wrist shot which appeared to be saved by Niesluchowski. But the puck fell behind her, and senior forward Antoinette Maldonado was there for the Bobcats. She put the rebound into the open net for her first goal of the season, and Quinnipiac had their first lead of the game at 3-2.

But the Big Red responded. After a Danielle Alexieff penalty, the Big Red took advantage of the power play opportunity. Liz Zorn’s shot from the point went just wide and off the end boards, but came right back out in front of the net. Freshman Catherine White took the loose puck and put it past a sliding Holm-Glaas to tie the game at three with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.

And as quickly as Cornell had tied it, they took the lead. White crossed the Bobcats’ blue line and made a centering feed to Johnston. Johnston faked to her left then went back to her forehand, fooling Holm-Glaas. It was Johnston’s second goal of the game, Cornell’s second goal in less than a minute, and the Big Red had taken a 4-3 lead.

The fans were stunned, but the Bobcats had an answer. Junior forward Evelina Husar’s initial shot was stopped, but Duffy found the rebound and knocked it past freshman goalie Amanda Mazzotta, who had come in for Niesluchowski. It was the second time the Bobcats had come back in the game, and the score was even at four with seven minutes remaining.

“I think the whole program is growing up, and obviously as Janine goes, we go,” Seeley said. “I think she’s learning and understanding that she’s a leader of this program”

Duffy’s response to a leadership role is simple, but it speaks to the mentality that Seeley has brought to this program in his first season has coach.

“I think a lot of it is leading by action,” Duffy said. “It starts in practice and the weight room, and hopefully it carries over to the ice.”

The score would remain that way until overtime. Quinnipiac’s best scoring chance came two minutes into the extra frame. Duffy took a pass in the slot and was past the Cornell defense, but Mazzotta slid across the crease to make a game-saving stop on her backhand attempt. Holm-Glaas made a couple big saves in the waning seconds, and Quinnipiac came away with a 4-4 tie.

The Bobcats will look to build off of Friday night’s effort tomorrow afternoon when they host Colgate at 4 p.m. for Senior Day. Dan Coleman and Andrew Gau will provide the call, which will begin immediately following men’s basketball against Bryant.

Notes: This was third game this season in which the Bobcats scored four goals; they are 2-0-1 in those games. … Duffy’s two goals tied her career high for goals in a game which she set against St. Cloud State on Oct. 4, and also tied her for the team lead in goals this season with Elyse Cole (nine). … Tonight’s game marks the second time this season Quinnipiac and Cornell played to a tie; their first game was a 2-2 tie on Nov. 8 at Lynah Rink in Ithaca.

Click here to view the box score from this game.

Where’s the D? Bobcats lose 8-5

By Jamie Palatini

As the Bobcats and Colonials headed into the third period of Saturday night’s game, the two teams were knotted at three. It seemed an exciting, competitive final period was in the works.

That’s when things got ugly for the Quinnipiac Bobcats.

The Robert Morris Colonials exploded for four straight goals in a span of 1:54 early in the third period en route to an 8-5 victory at the TD Banknorth Sports Center on Saturday night in Hamden.  With the win, Robert Morris improves to 5-12-4. The loss drops Quinnipiac to 13-9-2.

“I thought our intensity was good in the first period…just no intensity in the second or for most of the third,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said after the game. “We started playing hard when we were down 7-3.”

Things started well for Quinnipiac. They got on the board first at the 13:51 mark of the first period. Junior forward Greg Holt handled the puck by the left faceoff circle and slid a pass to the left side of the net where freshman forward Spencer Heichman was waiting. Heichman made a quick pass across the crease to fellow freshman Scott Zurevinski, who found a wide open net and scored his eighth goal of the season to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.

Robert Morris was able to tie the game just three minutes later. The Colonials found themselves on the power play following an interference penalty to Heichman, and did not waste time converting. Senior forward Chris Margott made a cross-ice pass through the slot to freshman Trevor Lewis who was all by himself in the left faceoff circle of the Bobcats’ zone. Lewis made a quick pass back sophomore forward Nathan Longpre, who caught Quinnipiac goaltender Bud Fisher out of position and scored his seventh goal of the season to tie the game at one.

The Bobcats jumped out to a 3-1 lead on the heels of a power play goal from Jean-Marc Beaudoin late in the first period and a David Marshall goal just 19 seconds into the second. On that play, Leitch notched his 32nd assist of the season, a number which leads all of Division I hockey. Marshall’s goal was his 14th of the season, and also extended his point scoring streak to 17 consecutive games, a Quinnipiac Division I record.

But similar to last night’s game, RMU would not go quietly. Shortly after the Marshall goal, the Colonials found themselves with a man advantage following a Holt penalty. Defenseman Denny Urban took a shot which was initially stopped by Fisher, but Margott found the rebound in the slot and scored his eighth goal of the season to cut the deficit to 3-2.

With 3:44 remaining in the second period, the Colonials drew even. Sophomore forward Chris Kushneriuk flipped a pass high into the air from the RMU zone which tumbled down onto the stick of senior forward Jason Towsley. After collecting the puck, he came through the neutral zone and separated himself from the Quinnipiac defense. Towsley faked a wrist shot, then slid the puck to his backhand and elevated a shot over Fisher to tie the game at three.

Coming into this weekend series, Robert Morris had been averaging only 2.2 goals per game. The Colonials combined for 12 goals on the weekend, and Bryan Leitch knows that giving up a two goal lead is unacceptable.

“We’re lacking that killer instinct right now,” Leitch said. “We get up two goals on Robert Morris and it should be 5-1, not 3-3. Something’s just not clicking right now.”

The score remained tied at three until the 3:02 mark of the period when a bad turnover in the Bobcats’ zone led to the Colonials’ third consecutive goal.  Freshman forward Brandon Blandina intercepted a pass by the left faceoff circle and made a centering feed to Scott Kobialko. His shot went off the left pad of Fisher, but the rebound came right to Cody Crichton who put it home to give RMU a 4-3 lead.

Just 26 seconds later, Kushneriuk’s second goal of the game made it a 5-3 lead for the Colonials, and Pecknold had seen enough, pulling Fisher in favor of Dan Clarke who had struggled in last night’s game.

And the struggles continued.

27 seconds later, RMU increased their lead. The first shot Clarke faced found the back of the net when Margott netted his second goal of the game to make it 6-3. One minute later Trevor Lewis scored his third goal of the season, and before you could say meltdown, the Colonials were up 7-3.

“I thought defensively we gave up too many shots, and our goaltending was an issue tonight,” Pecknold said. “I think we gave up four empty net goals tonight.”

The Bobcats made a comeback attempt after getting goals from Beaudoin and Chris Myers, but the deficit was simply too great for Quinnipiac to overcome. RMU added an empty netter with 25 seconds remaining to seal the deal.

For the second straight weekend, Quinnipiac struggled defensively, and has allowed a combined 21 goals in its last four games.

“It’s been the last four or five games where we’ve played well, but defensively we’ve just been terrible,” Beaudoin said. “Subpar, to say the least.”

At the end of the day, Pecknold described his team’s struggles simply.

“It’s a team game and we need to commit to blocking shots and doing the little things. But we need some saves, and we didn’t get any tonight.”

NOTES – Chris Margott’s empty net goal gave him a hat trick. … Five RMU players had two points or more in the game. … Beaudoin’s second goal was shorthanded, the Bobcats’ second shorthanded goal of the season. ... Brandon Wong, who left Friday night’s game due to injury, did not play tonight.  His status for the Bobcats’ next game is uncertain.

Bobcats struggle, hold on to 5-4 win over RMU

By Jamie Palatini

Quinnipiac’s men’s ice hockey team showed strokes of brilliance in the second period of Friday night’s game against Robert Morris. However, their play in the first and third periods may be all head coach Rand Pecknold noticed.

The Bobcats tallied four goals in the second stanza en route to a 5-4 victory over the Robert Morris Colonials Friday night at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden. The win improves Quinnipiac’s overall record to 13-8-3. With the loss, RMU drops to 4-12-4.

Despite the win, Pecknold found reasons for concern. Quinnipiac trailed 1-0 after the first, and gave up goals after notching 2-1, 3-2, and 5-3 leads which allowed the Colonials to keep the game close.

“I thought we gutted out a win tonight,” Pecknold said. “We didn’t play very well, and I thought we were very flat in the first.”

Robert Morris jumped out into the lead at the 15:59 mark of the first period. Sophomore Nathan Longpre’s shot on Quinnipiac goaltender Dan Clarke from the slot was initially stopped, but trickled through his legs to give the Colonials the 1-0 advantage.

After the first 20 minutes in which Quinnipiac was outplayed, outhustled and outhit, the Bobcats woke up and erupted in the second. Just 1:26 into the period, Jean-Marc Beaudoin entered the RMU zone and found linemate Brandon Wong streaking towards the net.  Wong spun at the right faceoff circle and made a backhand pass to freshman forward Yuri Bouharevich, whose shot whizzed past the right arm of Colonials goaltender Brooks Ostergard to tie the game at one.

Just two minutes later, the Bobcats took the lead. Quinnipiac senior forward and Division I assists leader Bryan Leitch handled the puck behind the RMU net. He slid to his right and found junior forward Eric Lampe in the slot, whose one-timer beat Ostergard to give Quinnipiac the 2-1 lead. But RMU came right back and knotted the score just three minutes later. Jake Obermeyer scored his first goal of the season at the 13:07 mark, and the Colonials had seized the momentum, knotting the score at two.

But Quinnipiac had an answer. After a RMU penalty, senior forward David Marshall won a faceoff in the Colonials’ zone. The puck came back to Leitch, whose shot was blocked in front, but picked up by Lampe who put it home for his second goal of the game. It was the ninth goal of the season for Lampe, and it gave Quinnipiac a 3-2 lead.

Overall on the night, the line of Leitch, Marshall and Lampe combined for three goals and five assists. Despite his offensive successes tonight, Lampe was quick to credit his linemates.

“It’s great. It’s about hard work and good passes,” Lampe said. “I just go in and do the dirty work for them, and what happens happens.”

After the Bobcats seized the lead, RMU came right back and scored on the power play. Chris Kushnierek’s shot got by Clarke, and the Colonials had tied the score once again.

A great individual effort from Marshall put Quinnipiac back out in front just 15 seconds later. Marshall was forechecking behind the RMU net, and was stole the puck from a Colonials’ defender. His centering pass found a streaking Greg Holt who put a one-timer from the right faceoff circle past Ostergard to give Quinnipiac a 4-3 advantage.

With eight minutes remaining in the game, that became a two-goal advantage. On a 5-on-3 power play, Marshall unleashed a one-timer from the left faceoff circle that found the top left corner of the net which made the score 5-3. Robert Morris scored less than two minutes later on a quick shot in the slot from Denny Urban to bring the Colonials within a goal. However, Robert Morris couldn’t convert on chances late, and Quinnipiac escaped with the 5-4 victory.

Both Marshall and Pecknold made it clear that despite this win, the Bobcats need to show up for a full 60 minutes if they want to make a serious push towards an ECAC crown.

“I don’t think this is a good feeling,” Marshall said. “We didn’t play very well, and it’s the second weekend in a row. We need to take it upon ourselves to play a little better at home.”

“We really struggled…it’s disappointing because we have a lot of juniors and seniors on this team, and it’s hit or miss with their intensity every night,” Pecknold said.

Last weekend, Quinnipiac beat Niagara 6-4 in the first game of a two-game set before a bad 5-1 loss the following evening. The Bobcats will look to avoid that same fate in as many weekends tomorrow evening when they host this same RMU team at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the WQAQ sports stream with Justin Cohen and Tyler Chaput calling all the action. The broadcast is slated to begin at 6:50 p.m.

NOTES – Leitch’s two assists increased his season total to 30, which leads all of Division I hockey. … Marshall has now tallied a point in 16 consecutive games, a Quinnipiac Division I record. … Quinnipiac is the first team this season to have two 30-point scorers (Leitch and Marshall). … Wong left Friday’s game with a leg injury, his status is unknown for Saturday’s game.