Niagara flies past Bobcats

Niagara flies past Bobcats
by Seth Rothman
January 25, 2007

HAMDEN — Before the game, the Quinnipiac Administration tried controlling the Bobcats loud and energetic student section.

During the game, Niagara (14-8-1) succeeded in controlling Quinnipiac (14-6-3) on the ice, defeating the Bobcats 5-1 in front of a capacity, near record crowd of 3,442 at the TD Banknorth Sports Center on Friday night. The loss ends Quinnipiac’s 10 game unbeaten streak at 9-0-1. 

Before the game started, Assistant Director of Athletic Promotions and Ticketing Steve Colvin took to the microphone and reminded the Quinnipiac student section not to use foul language, including “a word that rhymes with duck,” as he said.

Well, when each Niagara starter was introduced, the students continued their custom of using the offending word to describe each players’ proficiency on the ice – accompanied by a horn over the loud speakers, an attempt at bleeping the word while it was being screamed by the nearly 1,000 students.

Once the game started a few minutes later, it was the Quinnipiac offense that was bleeped by Niagara’s hard working defense — much to the enjoyment of the Purple Eagles.

“That’s about as thorough a road effort as we’ve had all year,” Niagara coach Dave Burkholder said. “We did everything well — we were good on the rush and great defensively against a really good offensive team.”  

Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold was not as happy.

“Verbatim, we talked about exactly what they did. A big focus was not to give up the odd-man rushes. That’s all I talked about all week, that’s all we talked about right before we went out, and I think we gave up nine or ten in the first period,” Pecknold said. “It’s really unbelievable. For the season we’re having, and how coachable we’ve been, it was clearly our most uncoachable outing of the year.”

It started early, when Quinnipiac was about to be called for a penalty nearly nine minutes into the contest. Before the Bobcats touched up to stop play, Niagara’s Bryan Haczyk brought the puck into the zone and fired it to Dan Sullivan. His shot from the slot deflected off Bobcats goaltender Bud Fisher and trickled into the net before Fisher could find the puck to stop play.

“We’ve won four of our last five, and we rolled four lines which we haven’t been able to do all year,” Burkholder said. “We finally have pretty good chemistry on all four lines. From where I was standing, I couldn’t tell my first line from my fourth line, which is really good.”

“First off, I’d like to congratulate Niagara,” Pecknold said. “I thought they played a great hockey game tonight. Their kids played hard, they were physical, and Pagliero was excellent in net. There’s no question the better team won tonight. They were ready to play and we weren’t.”

“You have to give a lot of credit to Niagara; they outworked us in every aspect of the game tonight,” Quinnipiac captain Jamie Bates said.

While Quinnipiac briefly tied the game on the power play when Bates and Ben Nelson conspired to find winger Bryan Leitch on the doorstep, the success was short lived.

3:23 after tying the game, the Bobcats were back in the red — a place they would stay for the rest of the contest – when Niagara’s Ryan Olidis blasted a wrister past Fisher after the puck got caught up in Leitch’s skates. For Olidis, it was his first career goal.

“Across the board – our forwards weren’t staying high on the forecheck, they were lazy on the backcheck, they were puck-watching in the neutral zone, and our D really struggled,” Pecknold said. “We gave up three breakaways in the first period.”

“It’s hard to put your finger on what went wrong tonight, I guess we probably just got a little bit complacent,” Bates said. “We obviously didn’t respect them as much as we should have, and they’re a good hockey team. If we’re not ready to play, they’re going to do that to us again tomorrow night.”

Pecknold said he was unimpressed with his forwards, especially in the neutral zone. He thought Niagara’s team speed may have played a role in the lopsided score.

“I think a little bit of it was because we were below the puck, if our forecheck was better with our guys staying high and above the puck [we would have given up less], but we were always below and chasing it,” Pecknold said. “We had three forwards always following the puck. I use the analogy a lot, like six year olds playing soccer. I don’t know if you guys have ever seen that, but 11 kids go to the ball, and 11 kids go to the ball, and that’s what we were doing today. We just kept following the puck, and over pursuing in the neutral zone and the defensive zone.”

It’s the same situation Quinnipiac found itself in last January when these two teams played in northern New York. Niagara’s speed created multiple odd-man rushes, and Quinnipiac was unable to stop them.

“Ultimately, we got outworked tonight. We got out-competed and out-coached,” Pecknold said. ”Like I said, it was our most uncoachable game of the year, I’m pretty frustrated and embarrassed with how we played; to give up that many odd-man rushes to a team that we did the same things to last year when we played them.”

“The intensity wasn’t there, playing smart wasn’t there, at times when we did try to work hard, all three forwards would go hard and let the puck get by for a 3-on-2,” Bates lamented. “They’re a good transition hockey team. We focused during the week on cutting that down, and we went out there tonight and probably gave up ten to 15 odd-man rushes. We can’t do that and beat them.”

“We did the exact same thing [last year] and lost. We gave up power-break after power-break, talked about it, showed video on it, and we go out and do it again,” Pecknold said. “I think our game-plan’s good, we just need to execute it. The power-break situation is baffling. That’s exactly what we need to not allow happen, and they happened left and right. Even late in the game we gave up a bunch. There’s no real reason why. Guys are being selfish, just thinking offense, playing lazy and not getting back for the puck.”

“Game-plan, I don’t think you can change much,” Bates said. “Coach, as he does every night, gives us a game-plan, and as guys on the team, we just have to come ready to play tomorrow night. We were not ready to play tonight, and let’s hope it doesn’t happen again tomorrow night.”

Because, as the players and coach realize, if it does happen again tomorrow night Quinnipiac could find themselves on the outside, looking into the NCAA Tournament from the stands. Before the game tonight, Quinnipiac was ranked 12th in the Pairwise Rankings — the system used by the NCAA to determine seeding in the tournament.

After the game, the ranking fell to a three-way tie for 13th, according to USCHO.com. After tiebreakers, the web-site says Quinnipiac would have the 14th seed.

“That’s probably the furthest thing from our mind right now, but Niagara probably cost us the tournament last year (when they swept the Bobcats in 2 games), and they’re in a good position to do it again this year,” Bates said. “We probably won’t mention it before the game tomorrow night, but it’ll definitely be kicking us in the butt if we don’t come out on top tomorrow night.”

“If we want to go to the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year, tomorrow’s a must-win,” Pecknold said.

So, that’s where Quinnipiac’s attention turns. Not to the theater in the stands, not to the lopsided score tonight, but to tomorrow night.

“It’s a huge character check with how we’re going to play,” Pecknold said. “Niagara’s going to play well tomorrow night, they’re confident right now. We have a lot on the plate to come out and beat them. I don’t think we really match up well with them, but that happens from time to time; you have to find a way to win.”

“We’re used to playing doubles (playing the same team on back-to-back nights),” Burkholder said. “I know the ECAC isn’t used to playing opponents on back-to-back nights, but it’s another chance for us to play in a great building, sold-out crowd against a ranked team. We’re fired up.”

“I think Niagara’s pumped up. They just beat the 12th best team in the nation,” Pecknold said. “It’s a huge win for their program on the road. Their coach does a good job, and they’ll come back and play hard again tomorrow night. We just have to worry about us, be better prepared, and execute better.”

NOTES:  Bud Fisher’s brother, Mike Fisher, was in attendance. Mike is a winger for the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, and was able to attend because today is the first day of the NHL’s All Star Break… Former Bobcat Peter Vetri has been signed by the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL, a farm team of the Dallas Stars… Current Bobcat goaltender Pat McGann was drafted by the Stars during the 2005 NHL Draft… Tonight’s attendance (3,442) is 2 fans short of the all-time highest attended game at the TD Banknorth Sports Center. Earlier this year, the game vs. Clarkson attracted 3,444 fans… Every game for the rest of the season except the game against Brown on February 10 has already been sold out.

Bobcats beat Yale, equal longest D-I unbeaten streak

Bobcats beat Yale, equal longest D-I unbeaten streak
by Seth Rothman
January 12, 2008

David Marshall continued his streak as a Yale killer, Brandon Wong continued on his torrid pace since the second half of the season began, and the Bobcats (13-5-3, 6-3-3 ECAC) equaled their longest unbeaten streak since joining Division I in an impressive 3-0 win over cross-town rival Yale (7-6-3, 4-4-3 ECAC) on Saturday evening at Ingalls Rink in New Haven.

After an exciting but scoreless first period, Marshall got the scoring started. He came into the offensive zone with Wong, and after a give-and-go, sent the puck through Yale goaltender Alec Richards’ 5-hole just over five minutes into the second. It was Marshall’s 7th goal in five career games against the Bulldogs.

Even though that goal was the game-winner, the contest’s fate turned well before that.

8:38 into the first stanza, Zach Hansen took a roughing penalty, followed 28 seconds later by a holding call against Eric Lampe. Despite the 2-man advantage for 92 seconds, goaltender Bud Fisher and the Bobcats held the Bulldogs off the score-sheet.

“I thought we played well,” Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold told WQUN’s Don Boyle. “The first period was good, but I thought the second and third were phenomenal.”

The scoring held at 1-0 through most of the third period, inducing very anxious moments for the sell-out crowd of 3,486 at the “Yale Whale.”

And with seven minutes left, the anxious moments reached a crescendo for the many Bobcats fans in attendance when Yale’s Michael Karwoski hit the crossbar with a blistering shot.

Thanks to a red-hot Wong, that’s as close as the game got.

With 2:46 remaining, he took a drive that deflected off the skates of Richards, into the net, and the Bobcats had their insurance. After an empty netter by Eric Lampe two and a half minutes later, Quinnipiac had their shutout.

For Yale, their energy certainly wasn’t the issue; the competitiveness was most certainly there. Just the results weren’t satisfactory for the home team.

Pecknold said it’s thanks in large part to the back-check his team employed over the course of the night.

“That’s something that we need to do well,” Pecknold said. “When we’re good, we’re back-checking, and I think you saw that tonight.”

Since the Bobcats started getting tackled by the injury bug, their season has taken off. They’re now 8-0-1 in their last 9 despite losing three of their top 6 defensemen to injury at various points of the season. The streak is the team’s longest unbeaten streak since the 1999-2000 season, their first in Division I.

“It’s been a great run,” Pecknold said. “We’ve had a lot of kids out of the lineup. It’s a credit to our team; everyone wants to play, and its good to get kids involved.”

The sweep of Brown and Yale is the first league sweep of the season for Quinnipiac, and comes after the Bobcats struggled through their first half.

In their 4 league games of 2008, Quinnipiac has recorded a nearly-perfect 7 points. After Princeton dismantled Brown 6-2 on Saturday night, the Tigers remain in 1st place in ECAC Hockey with 16 points. The Bobcats are nipping at their heels, one point behind.

Now, Quinnipiac gets a break in ECAC Hockey play for 2 weekends. Next weekend, they play a game at Holy Cross before returning home on January 25 for a 2 game series against Niagara. Pecknold understands the importance of his team’s out of conference schedule, and insists the team won’t consider the 20 day break from league play a vacation.

“You never get a break if you want to go to the NCAA Tournament,” Pecknold said. “They’re not league games, but they still count. Last year, losing two up in Niagara probably cost us the NCAA Tournament.”

Now that his team is back in the national rankings, and 8-0-1 in their last nine games, Pecknold is determined not to let that happen again.

NOTES: There were no whistles during the first 5:22 of the opening period… Quinnipiac is now 10-0-2 when leading after two periods… The shutout is the 8th of Bud Fisher’s collegiate career, breaking the school record previously held by Jamie Holden, who graduated in 2005… Quinnipiac out-shot Yale 13-5 in the third period… Wong now has 12 points (4G, 8A) in his last 6 games, dating back to the Western Michigan tilt on December 29, including 4 consecutive multi-point games… Quinnipiac has now won 4 straight against Yale… These two teams will meet again on February 8 in Hamden.

Men’s Hockey dominates Rosen, Bears

Men’s Hockey dominates Rosen, Bears
by Seth Rothman
January 11, 2008

It’s been an ugly season for the Brown University Bears.

It just got a bit uglier.

In a game dominated by Quinnipiac (12-5-3, 5-3-3 ECAC) from start to finish, the Bobcats handily defeated the Bears by a final of 6-3 in front of 920 at the Meehan Auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island, vaulting Quinnipiac to 2nd place in ECAC Hockey.

Brown (1-10-4, 1-5-3 ECAC) hasn’t won a game since November 9 when they defeated Colgate in Providence, and they’ve lost 4 of their games by only one goal.

Their problem, usually, has not been defense — it’s been getting the puck in the net. 

Tonight, however, their problems escalated to every facet of the game. The defense was soft, the goaltending subpar, and the offense nearly non-existant until the game’s fate was long sealed.

For Quinnipiac, their problems were few and far in between. They’ve now remained unbeaten for eight consecutive games (7-0-1), a streak that ties the team’s longest since the 2005-2006 season.

“It’s nice to go eight games without losing. I don’t even know if we’re peaking, we’re just finding ways to win,” Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold said to WQUN’s Don Boyle. “We’re not playing our best hockey, but we’re playing well enough to win.”

The assault started early for Quinnipiac when Dan Travis scored his 7th goal of the season when Brandon Wong won the faceoff and got the puck to Travis who fired it home just 5:11 into play.

It continued when defenseman Zach Hansen blasted one from the point on the power play 2:31 later, and Quinnipiac never looked back. The Bobcats scored 5 goals in the first two periods, and Brown could only capitalize three times for meaningless goals that came well after the game had been decided.

“I thought we won the game in the first period, which is what we wanted to do,” Pecknold said. ”It’s two points – we’ve lost 2 years in a row here, and we can’t get on the bus fast enough.”

For Wong, tonight’s game may have been a break-out day. He was scalding hot on this night, sending the puck into the net once and assisting on three others for Quinnipiac.

The Travis - Wong - Beaudoin line combined for a total of 7 points to lead the Bobcats offensive attack, including a goal each.

The other goal scorers for Quinnipiac were winger Bryan Leitch, defenseman Zach Hansen, and hard-hitting mucker Chris Myers.

“It’s a good road win,” Pecknold said. “We’re on a good roll right now, and we really struggled the last 2 years here. We did a great job tonight. We were really focused.”

Meanwhile, the stellar season Brown goaltender Dan Rosen enjoyed last season has evaporated quickly. Last season, Rosen sported a goals against average of 2.74, and a save percentage of .920. This season, the numbers are certainly much more ugly. The GAA is 3.32 and the save percentage a relatively ugly .899.

Tonight, Quinnipiac will travel back home on their coach bus, sleep in their own beds, and play a road game tomorrow. It’s the Yale game, to be played at Yale’s Ingalls Rink.

After playing in front of friends and family in Providence, Quinnipiac will have little trouble getting excited for one of the most anticipated games of the year — especially after Yale blew a third period lead and lost 4-3 against Princeton tonight in New Haven to fall two points behind Quinnipiac, and three points behind ECAC Hockey leader Princeton.

“They’ll be hungry no matter what,” Pecknold said of the Bulldogs. “Yale’s a great team, and I love what [Yale coach Keith Allain] has done there. It’ll be a great tilt tomorrow night.”

Tomorrow’s New Haven county grudge match will face-off at 7pm, and be broadcasted along the Bobcats Sports Network on the radio.

Captains lead Bobcats to conference win

Captains lead Bobcats to conference win
by Seth Rothman
January 6, 2008 

When the spotlights went on, the lights blackened out, and the Bobcats took the ice on Sunday afternoon at the TD Banknorth Sports Center, Rand Pecknold’s club was led out by an unfamiliar face.

Freshman Pat McGann led the team, wearing their gold jerseys, onto the ice. The starting goaltender is always the first person on the ice, and on Sunday, McGann got his first collegiate start.

The reason for McGann’s start, according to sources, stemmed from a minor groin injury suffered by junior goaltender Bud Fisher during Friday’s contest against Harvard. Fisher is expected back in the crease for next weekend’s action against Brown and Yale.

Once on the ice, Quinnipiac (11-5-3, 4-3-3 ECAC) skated to a 5-3 victory over Dartmouth College (5-7-1, 2-6-1 ECAC) in a game televised by NESN in front of 2,563 at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.

It was a game that, for the first thirteen minutes, got off to a slow start. But then, Dartmouth struck quickly. The Big Green scored two goals within 52 seconds on tallies by Connor Shields and Rob Pritchard.

But this was a game Quinnipiac needed. After tying Harvard on Friday, coach Rand Pecknold knew he couldn’t let his team go down without a fight.

“Usually I have a lot to say, but today I just thought our energy wasn’t good, so I just wanted to calm them down,” Pecknold told WQUN’s John Chagaris. “I give a lot of credit to our captains, they did a good job getting our guys back into the game.”

Whatever the captains said — it didn’t even come close to what they did on the ice.

One minute fifty-two seconds after Dartmouth’s second tally, assistant captain Dan Henningson took a blast from just above the right faceoff circle. His shot was deflected by Ben Nelson past Dartmouth goaltender Matt Devine for the Bobcats first goal of the game.

The leadership wasn’t done.

Two minutes and twelve seconds into the second period, Henningson fed captain Jamie Bates behind the net. He found sophomore Eric Lampe streaking towards the net, fed the Madison, Wisconsin native the puck, and Lampe deftly tied the game.

But the leadership still wasn’t done.

After Dartmouth took a 3-2 lead early in the third period, Henningson did it again.

He fed sophomore Jean-Marc Beaudoin, who blasted one towards the  net on the power play. His shot was deflected aside by Devine, but the rebound was corraled by Brandon Wong. He found twine for his 4th goal of the season, and the Bobcats had tied the game.

Three minutes thirty-three seconds later, the Bobcats took the lead for good. Brandon Wong skated through center, and somehow found Dan Travis while being hassled. Travis knocked the pass out of mid-air and found Beaudoin in front for the goal that proved to be the game winner.

After being forced to kill two penalties off in the final 7 minutes, Beaudoin struck again with an empty net goal with 31 seconds left, and Quinnipiac had a hard earned 5-3 victory.

After the game, however, Pecknold had high praise for his goaltender McGann.

“I thought he was good,” Pecknold said. “He was a little nervous in the beginning, but he played well enough to win, and that’s what you want to do.”

“I was a little nervous at the start, but I settled in pretty nice and the guys played unbelievable in front of me,” McGann told Chagaris. “I couldn’t ask for a better game from them.”

It was a hard working game that saw the Bobcats out-shoot Dartmouth 34-23. McGann knows he has to get better if he wants to crack the starting line-up when Fisher comes back, presumably next weekend.

“I let in at least one soft goal which I wasn’t happy about, but the guys came back and scored two for me and then the empty netter. It’s a great feeling right now,” McGann said. “It wasn’t a great start for me, but I knew as long as I gave us a chance to win, the guys would come through for me, and they did.”

Quinnipiac is back in action on Friday when they travel to Brown. Saturday, the Bobcats come back to town, but travel just down the road to New Haven for their first game of the season against Yale. Both games are 7pm starts.

NOTES: In addition to the goal, Wong finished with 2 assists… Henningson’s three assist game is the first by a Bobcat since February 17 when Wong did it… Quinnipiac outshot Dartmouth 16-7 in the third… McGann played all 60 minutes in Quinnipiac’s exhibition win over Ryerson, but that was not an official game, and stats didn’t count in the official ledger. He also got some time in Quinnipiac’s early season loss to Cornell… The Bobcats are now tied for 4th in ECAC Hockey with 11 points. Clarkson, Harvard, and Princeton are in a 3-way-tie for first place with 12 points… Quinnipiac doesn’t play another home game until January 25 when they start a two game series against Niagara in Hamden.

Banged up Bobcats tie Harvard

Banged up Bobcats tie Harvard
by Seth Rothman
January 5, 2008 

HAMDEN — It was another on-again off-again effort for the Quinnipiac Bobcats.

Fortunately for Quinnipiac, it did not add up to another loss. Instead, the Bobcats (10-5-3, 3-3-3 ECAC) skated to a 3-3 tie with the Harvard Crimson (6-6-3, 5-3-2 ECAC) in front of 3,392 at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden on Friday night.

The contest started well for the homestanding Bobcats.

11:34 into the opening stanza, Dan Travis sent the puck towards Harvard netminder Kyle Richter. After Richter made the original save, Brandon Wong had a whack at it. When he couldn’t put it home on the near side, Bryan Leitch tried on the far side. Bingo — 1-0 Bobcats.

Fifty-three seconds later, the Bobcats struck again. After Leitch got the puck deep, Jamie Bates found Ben Nelson streaking through the slot. Nelson took the puck on the fore-hand, switched to the back-hand, and roofed it past Richter for a quick 2-0 lead.

After Harvard’s Michael Biega cashed in on a 2 v 1 opportunity with 3:57 left in the first, Dan Travis capitalized on a bad rebound given up by Richter. Brandon Wong took a shot from the point, and the puck squirted into the slot. Travis was right there for his sixth of the season with 16.3 seconds remaining in the first.

Despite the Bobcats 3-1 lead after one frame, Bobcats head coach Rand Pecknold was not pleased with his team’s effort.

“I wasn’t really happy with how we played the first,” Pecknold said. “I know we were up 3-1, but I thought we were very sloppy defensively, didn’t take care of our defensive zone very well, and sluggish on the back-check. What we did do well, when we got chances, we finished. We got the puck to the net – got some pretty dynamic kids that can make plays when they get a chance.”

“I thought the first 10-15 minutes we weren’t executing very well,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said. “I think we had breakdowns that allowed them to get outnumbered rushes. After that, we did a better job.”

“We’ve been talking about getting a better start these past few games,” Crimson senior captain Mike Taylor said. “We come out the first one or two shifts really good, but then we end up taking a string of penalties that kills our momentum. Today we came out flat. I don’t know if it was the bus legs or traveling, but we definitely need to improve our start. We were a little sloppy, and we didn’t have a lot of energy in the first period.”

Once again for the Bobcats, the intensity — or lack thereof — was a factor.

“I just don’t think our intensity was where it needed to be,” Pecknold said. “Our commitment to winning wasn’t where it needed to be.”

“Overall, it wasn’t what we expected,” Travis said. “Coming off a good weekend at Vermont, we were expecting a little more intensity. We just didn’t have it tonight. We were fortunate to get a point; we’re always happy to get a point in this league.”

Both coach and player agreed that part of the blame for the Bobcats lack of intensity had to do with the emotional high of winning the Catamount Cup.

“A little letdown from the weekend, we were on a pretty good high from the weekend and maybe we thought things would come a little easier than they did tonight,” Travis said. “We’ll get out of here with a tie, take the point, and look forward to Dartmouth.”

“We did not have a good week of practice this week. Tuesday and Thursday’s practices were atrocious and it translated into our game Friday night,” Pecknold said. ”I thought we had it going, we’ve won five in a row, and our intensity had been great in all five of those games. It was excellent last weekend in Vermont. You wish there was a light switch you can flip on and off, but there’s not.”

Meanwhile, the other locker room was much more relieved with the result after Harvard scored two second period goals to tie the game.

“I’m proud of the way our guys battled,” Donato said. “We dug ourselves a hole early on, but really competed for the last fifty minutes, really. We dug in; it was a heck of an effort the rest of the way.”

For Quinnipiac, the injuries on the blue line are starting to take its toll. Senior Matt Sorteberg, junior Mark Nelson, and freshman Jake Bauer all did not dress for Friday’s game due to various injuries, and none of them are expected to play on Sunday.

“We’re so short-handed right now with the injuries that we have,” Pecknold said. “Bates played tonight, but he’s practiced twice in a month (due to a concussion) and he was out of gas tonight; he struggled with his conditioning. We need to play so hard, and have great intensity to overcome the kids we have out of the lineup.”

Harvard, who employed very hard hitting throughout the game, nearly added to Quinnipiac’s M.A.S.H. unit. With 8:46 remaining in the third, Harvard senior David MacDonald hit Bobcats junior Bryan Leitch high, taking a penalty and briefly sending a dazed Leitch to the bench. The first line winger missed a shift and returned to the game shortly thereafter.

“That’s something we always try to focus on,” Taylor said. “It helps us play our game better, which is dump it in and forecheck teams. The more we establish the body, the more other teams tend to back off. That’s something we try to do every game, but some games, like tonight, we do it better than others.”

“They have some big, strong kids that are physical,” Pecknold said. “They were trying to finish their checks, and they did a good job at that.”

As WQAQ reported earlier on Friday, another big story coming into action today is the dismissal of goaltender Peter Vetri, who has been dismissed from the University due to academic reasons.

“The only comment I’ll make on that is that he was dismissed because he didn’t handle his academic responsibilities,” Pecknold said.

The loss of Vetri means junior Bud Fisher will now likely get nearly every start for the rest of the season, should he stay healthy. It’s a situation reminiscent of last year when Fisher started all but one game, and Pecknold isn’t worried.

“Bud Fisher’s pretty good too, and Pat McGann is a really good goaltender, so we’ll be fine,” Pecknold said.  “Bud played well last weekend, and played great again tonight.”

Certainly, the goaltending was not the problem for the Bobcats on Friday. In fact, Pecknold put the blame squarely on his team defense — not just the blue-liners, but the forwards in their own zone.

“All sixty minutes we were sluggish from a defensive standpoint,” Pecknold said. “Our forwards and our D-core struggled a little bit, and we just didn’t get the offensive opportunities in the second or third periods that we did in the first.”

As he’s been forced to do often this season, Pecknold was highly complimentary of his opponent.

“[Harvard] played well. They’re well coached; they got a ton of talent,” Pecknold said. “They’re not ranked right now, but I think they’re a top 20 team in the nation, and they showed it tonight. They played a great road game, they battled back from down 3-1, you have to be impressed with how they played tonight.”

So now, the Bobcats have to get ready for Dartmouth on Sunday. Pecknold says he’s happy the team has the extra unusual day off.

“After tonight’s game, I love it. We need a day to recover,” Pecknold said. “I think it’s better for the student-athlete. You only get so many games during a year, and to play them back-to-back, sometimes you waste opportunities.”

“[We need to] remember what we did when we played Vermont,” Travis said. “Get the puck in deep, work hard, try and get pucks to the net, I don’t know what we had for shots tonight, but it definitely wasn’t enough (20). Do what we do well, keep the game simple, and I think we’ll be fine.”

Peter Vetri off Bobcats roster

Edited with new information 

Peter Vetri off Bobcats roster
by Seth Rothman
January 4, 2008

HAMDEN — Bobcats junior goaltender Peter Vetri has been kicked off the team due to academic reasons, sources tell WQAQ.

Vetri, according to sources, did not keep his grades in line with Quinnipiac’s academic standards. According to the Quinnipiac Student Handbook, a student must maintain a 2.0 GPA to remain in good academic standing.

Members of Quinnipiac’s Sports Information Office refused comment when asked on Friday about Vetri’s dismissal from the roster. According to Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold, Vetri has been dismissed from the University.

Vetri was not listed on the line charts provided by Quinnipiac, and was not at the TD Banknorth Sports Center for Friday’s game against 15th ranked Harvard. The only goaltenders that dressed for the contest were starter Bud Fisher, and seldom-used backup Pat McGann.

“The only comment I’ll make on that is that he was dismissed because he didn’t handle his academic responsibilities,” Pecknold said.

For the season, Vetri posted a 2.09 GAA, and a .914 save percentage after transferring from UMass Lowell before last season.

Stay with the WQAQ sports site for more on this story as it develops.

Bobcats win Catamount Cup

Bobcats win Catamount Cup
by Seth Rothman
December 30, 2007

18 seconds into the Championship Game of the 2007 Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup, Vermont’s Braydon Irwin rang the puck off the post.

For the host Catamounts, it didn’t get much better than that.

Quinnipiac (10-5-2) used stifling defense and an explosive offensive attack to defeat Vermont (4-7-4) by a final of 4-1 in front of 3,880 at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vermont on Sunday night.

The Bobcats got the scoring started early when sophomore forward Greg Holt took a blast from the point that deflected off junior forward David Marshall, popped high into the air, and behind UVM goaltender Joe Fallon to give Quinnipiac the advantage 7:25 in. Junior Bryan Leitch also assisted on the power-play tally.

2:07 later, the Bobcats struck again.

Jean-Marc Beaudoin skated into the far side corner and fed a streaking Dan Travis, who sent it into the net for his 4th goal of the season. Brandon Wong was also awarded an assist on the even strength goal, giving him 11 assists on the season.

Despite the lead, the Bobcats weren’t done pressuring the Catamounts in the 1st period. With three minutes remaining in the stanza, Travis came in with Wong on a 2-on-1 break. Travis fed Wong, who rang the rubber off the pipe to keep the lead at only two.

With 16 seconds left in the 1st period, however, Vermont struck back. Peter Lenes sent the puck into the low slot to Braydon Irwin, who took a shot that was stopped by Bobcats junior netminder Bud Fisher. While standing next to the net, Irwin got the puck back and acrobatically sent it through the crease and into the net to cut the Bobcats lead in half at the 1st intermission.

That’s how the score stood for nearly 18 minutes thanks in large part to Catamount Cup MVP Bud Fisher. Throughout the game, Fisher made 19 stops, in addition to his 18 saves in Saturday’s win over Western Michigan to earn the MVP honors.

“It helps when you have good goaltending, and Fisher played great on both nights,” Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold told WQUN’s Chris Kotsopoulos after the game.

With 2:31 left in the second period, Quinnipiac got some much needed insurance. It came off a brutal mistake in the Vermont zone by Catamount forward Brian Roloff. He had the puck to the far side of his own goal, when he inexplicably lost it. Travis was right there on the doorstep for his second tally of the game and 5th of the season.

The backbreaker, though, came on a Vermont power play. It’s been special teams that led the Bobcats offensive attack in the first semester, and the special teams’ success continued tonight.

With 11:09 remaining in the contest, Eric Lampe came in shorthanded and wristed a shot towards Fallon’s glove. It deflected off the glove and into the net for Quinnipiac’s 4th shorthanded goal of the season, and the three goal lead Quinnipiac would not relinquish.

“I thought we played hard both nights. The guys were gritty,” Pecknold said. “We had four really good players out of the lineup, but everyone stepped up and played well.”

The first semester started with four uninspiring games against Atlantic Hockey opponents. Two were wins, two were losses. Now, the second semester has started with 2 highly inspiring wins over the CCHA’s Western Michigan Broncos, and Hockey East’s Vermont Catamounts.

Despite the positive start to the semester, Pecknold knows the team’s biggest games are yet to come.

“It’s a great win, a great weekend, but now we have to get ready for Harvard and Dartmouth,” Pecknold said.

Those two games, conference games, are the ones Pecknold and the Bobcats are most concerned about. Certainly, winning the 2007 Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup means a tremendous deal to the team: it’s their first regular season tournament win since 2005’s Quinnipiac Cup. But their conference schedule means more.

It’s that conference schedule that begins again on Friday. If the Bobcats play then like they did tonight, their second half will go much better than the first.

NOTES: In addition to the Tournament MVP honors, Bud Fisher was also named to the all-tournament team… Dan Travis and Jean-Marc Beaudoin were the other Bobcats named to the Catamount Cup all-tournament team… The other players on the all-tournament team were Vermont’s Peter Lenes, Western Michigan’s Nathan Ansell, and Holy Cross’ Everett Sheen… Travis had the only multi-goal game of the tournament, while Beaudoin was the tournament’s leading scorer with 1 goal and 2 assists… The Bobcats are now on a 5 game winning streak, dating back to December 1 vs. RPI… Quinnipiac is back in action on Friday against Harvard and Sunday against Dartmouth. Both games will be televised by NESN.

Bobcats start second half with win

Updated with results of late game 

Bobcats start second half with win
by Seth Rothman
December 29, 2007

Coach Rand Pecknold and his club have had a long time to think about the topsy-turvy first half of the team’s 2007-2008 season.

The Bobcats last played on December 8, exactly three weeks ago. Since then, they’ve had a chance to take finals, spend a week recouperating at home, and get back to Quinnipiac’s campus to prepare for the second half.

That preperation ended this afternoon when the Bobcats (9-5-2) defeated Western Michigan (6-11-0) by a final of 2-1 in the first game of the 2007 Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, Vermont.

It was a dominating effort that saw Quinnipiac out-shoot WMU 24-19. The Bobcats got the scoring started early thanks to Brett Dickinson’s first career goal with 4:52 left in the first period.

In the second, however, Quinnipiac out-played the Broncos, out-chancing them severly and out-shooting them 11-8.

Western Michigan goaltender Riley Gill was equal to the task, stopping every shot Quinnipiac sent his way in the second.

“Riley Gill was really good for Western,” Pecknold told WQUN’s Chris Kotsopoulos after the game. “Early in the game we could have broken it open. We were ready to play. The guys competed, and [we] battled.”

Fortunately for the Bobcats, goaltender Bud Fisher was just as good. Fisher kept the Broncos at bay all afternoon, making 18 saves, many of them with a high degree of difficulty, keeping the Broncos off the scoresheet through 59:36.

In the third period, Quinnipiac got an insurance goal 4:02 into the stanza, and it was thanks to the hard work of Brandon Wong. The sophomore from Victoria, British Columbia stole the puck and sent it to classmate Jean-Marc Beaudoin. He sent it back to Wong on the give-and-go, who one-timed it past Gill for his third tally of the season.

But late in the third period, the Broncos went on the power play with nearly 2:30 left and pulled Gill a minute later, creating a 6v4 situation. With 24 seconds left, Nathan Ansell blasted one from the point that found its way through traffic to halve the Bobcats lead at 2-1.

From there, Quinnipiac hung on thanks to more fantastic work by Fisher to advance to the championship game of the 2007 Sheraton/TD Banknorth Catamount Cup, where they will face Vermont, who defeated Holy Cross 2-1 after a shootout on Saturday night.

“I thought we played well the whole [game], until the last couple minutes,” Pecknold said. “It was a little sloppy at times, but the kids played hard.”

Of concern to Pecknold, however, was the injury bug that once again hit the Bobcats this afternoon. Late in the 1st period, freshman defenseman Jake Bauer was ridden hard into the boards, and had to be helped off the ice by athletic trainer Brian Fairbrother.

Pecknold had no information on the nature of Bauer’s injury after the game, although WQUN’s Bill Schweizer indicated Bauer was suffering from a concussion, and was on the way to the hospital.

That’s in addition to Jamie Bates, who remained out of the lineup following a concussion he suffered against Princeton in November. Bates played against RPI on December 1, but hasn’t played a game since then.

“I was really hoping this would be the weekend I would come back, but the head’s telling me I’m not ready yet,” Bates told Schweizer during the 2nd intermission. “I’m hoping [to come back] next weekend against Harvard and Dartmouth.”

In the meantime, Bates remains out for tomorrow’s game, and the availability of his injured teammate is uncertain.

What is certain is the Bobcats started the second half the way they wanted to. Now, they get a chance to finish the Catamount Cup with a win against the tournament’s host, Vermont, and get a second much needed non-conference win. The game will start at 6:30pm, and can be viewed on CN8.

Bobcats ride freshman to win

Bobcats ride freshman to win
by Seth Rothman
December 1, 2007

HAMDEN — Maybe all they needed was a new month.

As the calender changed from November to December, the Bobcats men’s ice hockey team put in a solid effort while defeating Rennselaer 3-2 in an ECAC Hockey contest at the TD Banknorth Sports Center on Saturday night.

“All twelve forwards played well, six defensemen played well, Vetri was good in net, penalty kill was good, but our power play struggled a little bit,” Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold said. “It was a good team win, and most importantly, our team was ready to play. If we can find a way to do that game in and game out, we’ll be in good shape.”

“Quinnipiac’s a pretty good hockey team with a lot of skill,” RPI coach Seth Appert said. “I have a lot of respect for how Rand’s built that program. They’re one of the most skilled teams in our league, especially with their forwards.”

One of those forwards who returned to the lineup today was Jamie Bates. The senior from Toronto, Ontario missed Friday’s game due to an undisclosed injury. On Saturday, his inclusion in the lineup proved immediate dividends for Quinnipiac (6-5-2, 3-3-2 ECAC).

After Rensselaer’s Jeff Foss took an interference call, Bates took a pass from sophomore Brandon Wong in the far side circle and ripped it past RPI goalie Jordan Alford for a 1-0 lead 18:57 into the first stanza.

“No question we missed him last night, and he was a presence tonight,” Pecknold said. “Not only did he play well, but he’s got a presence about him and that’s why he’s our captain. He showed the leadership tonight.”

“Their first goal was a lucky bounce,” Appert remarked. “They threw it to the middle of the net, it hit a shinguard and ricocheted in.”

“I thought our competitiveness was much better,” Pecknold said. “When you compete as hard as we did today, you can make up for a lot of mistakes. We made some mistakes tonight, but from a competitive standpoint, it was excellent.”

Appert’s club has been good all season in the transition game, and it hurt the Bobcats twice in the second period. 4:56 into the second, Jake Morissette came into the zone on a 2-on-1 with Andrei Uryadov. Morissette found Uryadov streaking towards the net who deflected it home for the freshman’s sixth goal of the season.

Then, with 90 seconds remaining in the second, Rensselaer (7-5-3, 2-2-2 ECAC) struck again when Jon Ornelas found Seth Klerer right in front for the junior’s first goal of the year.

“We still made a couple of mistakes,” Pecknold said. “Both goals were transition type goals, which is what RPI is very good at; we were trying to do a better job shutting that down. “

Despite those miscues, the Quinnipiac defense played exceptionally well, earning praise from the coach and goaltender.

“They [defense] played a solid game,” Pecknold said. “We’ve got three freshman D, and they’re playing a ton right now with all the injuries we have. I was very happy with how they played, and those three guys are only going to get better. They all played very well tonight.”

“This is by far the best team I’ve ever played on,” junior transfer goaltender Peter Vetri said. “It’s really great every day I get to play with these guys. They’re unbelievable. They block shots, get rid of rebounds; it’s just something I’m not really used to. It’s pretty fun for me to get out there with those guys.”

The most praise, however, was saved for the freshmen on the defensive line. Jake Bauer, Zach Hansen, and Brett Dickinson all played a game that earned them even more praise.

“I thought all three [freshmen] D tonight that played, Hansen, Bauer, and Dickinson, have all been very good and very solid for us,” Pecknold said. “It’s been a good impactful freshman class.”

“They’re big time players who know how to play in big time situations,” Vetri said. “You can see they’ve fit in right away even though they’re so young. It’s calming having them back there. I don’t refer to them as freshmen at all. It’s a pleasure playing with them, they’re great players.”  

Meanwhile, Vetri continues to split time in net with junior Bud Fisher. With both putting up solid numbers (Vetri has a 2.24 GAA, Fisher a 2.39 GAA), the situation seems to be working for the Bobcats.

“Bud and I were actually talking about this the other day,” Vetri recollected. “Neither of us have really ever split time with another guy, or competed for a starting job. I’m used to playing all the time, it’s a nice reality check for me to have Bud here. He’s such a good goalie, he pushes me every day, and I have to battle every single day for every minute that I play.”

“[Vetri] played very well,” Pecknold said. ”Early on, he wasn’t getting a ton of shots. That’s part of goaltending; you have to be ready. Give credit to RPI – they’re a very good hockey team, a top 20 team for a reason. They were down in the third, and they got a lot of shots. Vetri was very good for us.”

“I felt pretty good out there today, I did some extra work with Coach Pecknold this week on coming out, cutting down the angles, and playing big,” Vetri said. “I was confident going into the game, and I knew the team was going to be playing well tonight because we played so poorly the night before.”

The story of this one, however, was the defense. Quinnipiac’s defensemen played a strong game, and were exceedingly pleased with the effort the group put out.

Case in point: Dan Henningson walked into the press room at the TD Banknorth Sports Center with a bike, and imitated the Ottawa Senators’ gig — conducting an interview while riding a bike.

“For the first half of the season, at least, we haven’t been that good at [blocking shots],” Henningson said. “Today we were a lot better at it. Today we wanted to do the little things — block shots, get the puck deep, we did a lot better. At least, we attempted to do a lot better.”

“It’s a little different than where I was before,” Vetri said. ”I saw a lot of shots when I was in Hockey East. Now, I have a very strong defensive team in front of me, so I don’t see as many shots,” the UMass-Lowell transfer said. 

For Hansen, having a leader like Henningson makes playing much easier.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Hansen said. “Especially with the guys that are leading us: Dan Henningson and Andy Meyer, they’re doing a great job. They make it easy for us.”

It was Hansen who scored the game-winning goal when he took a feed from Henningson and ripped a drive along the ice and into the net for his first collegiate goal.

“We were on the power play, and Henny (Henningson) made a great pass over,” Hansen said. “You have to give credit to the guys in front screening [Alford]. I don’t think it was a great shot, but I guess the goalie didn’t see it, and it went in.”

“Their winning goal was one that Jordan would like back,” Appert said. “It was a floater from the point that was on the ice. We’ve got used to great goaltending from Jordan and Mathias, and no question that’s one he’d like to have back.”

It was a game the Bobcats desperately wanted — losing two games at home to end the home 2007 schedule was just not an option for Pecknold’s crew.

“The enthusiasm was high tonight,” Hansen said. “Last thing we want to do is lose two straight in our own building. We really wanted to get two points out of the weekend after we dropped two last night. It was a big win for us standings-wise, too.”

Bobcats fall to Union 4-3

Bobcats fall to Union 4-3
by Seth Rothman
November 30, 2007

HAMDEN — The Bobcats played very much like their fans on Friday night at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.

They were late arriving.

After a listless first period that left coach Rand Pecknold perplexed, frustrated, angry, and annoyed, Quinnipiac (5-5-2, 2-3-2 ECAC) dropped their ECAC Hockey contest to Union (3-5-2, 1-2-2 ECAC) by a final of 4-3 in front of a late-arriving fan-base of 3,108.

“I thought the effort, for the most part, was disappointing,” Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold said. “I give us credit, being down 2-0 and 3-1 battling back into the game, but we just did not play well tonight. We really struggled with our intensity level. It was a pretty mediocre effort from our forwards, defense, and even the goaltender.”

The carnage started early for Quinnipiac. 65 seconds into the contest, Union’s Stephan Boileau found Mike Schreiber in the near circle for a wrister through the five-hole of Bobcats goalie Bud Fisher for the game’s first goal.

For the Dutchmen, getting that first goal was a welcome relief. In their previous three games, Union had given up the first goal of the contest, and getting the early goal relaxed the visitors from Schenectady.

“The last [three] games we got scored on in the first five or ten minutes, so tonight we really wanted to get out and put them back on their heels,” Union freshman forward Andrew Buote said. “It started on the fore-check, and once we put pressure on, we got the first goal and didn’t look back from there.”

“We’ve been playing good hockey, and we just didn’t have a lot to show for it,” Union coach Nate Leaman said. “Tonight, the puck went in for us, and we got something to show for it. Most importantly, it was good for the guys in the locker room to prove that they can face adversity, they can come back on their own, and they can stick to a game-plan.”

“You have to give Union credit,” Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold said. “We were 5-0 against them last year, which is hard to do. They wanted it more. They had a lot more energy, and they were the better team tonight. They deserved to win.”

“We had a slow start, and they caught us,” Bobcats sophomore Brandon Wong said. “We just have to be prepared at the first drop of the puck.”

After Union’s Torren Delforte added a power play goal 11 minutes later, the Bobcats went into the first intermission down 2-0, and hearing rare boos from the fans at the TD Banknorth Sports Center. According to Pecknold, the vitriol was deserved.

“I think last year we overachieved because we played hungry,” Pecknold said. “For lack of a better term, the kids wanted it. They wanted to prove something. We have so many returning players this year, they just don’t want it as badly.”

There was one bright spot for the Bobcats tonight. That was the line of Wong, Jean-Marc Beaudoin, and Mike Atkinson. Wong and Beaudoin combined to score all three goals the home team sent into the twine.

“Our line came out tonight pretty well, but not good enough,” a frustrated Wong said. “Personally, I probably picked it up a little bit. We’re just trying to work on it, every day.”

“They played well. Brandon’s getting it going a little bit, Jean-Marc’s been real good all year, and Mike Atkinson certainly provides a lot of energy,” Pecknold said. “They were good at times tonight. They were probably our best line.”

“Wong was on tonight, and when he’s on, he’s as good a player as there is in the league,” Leaman added.

It was Beaudoin who electrified the crowd with two goals within 1:47 of the second period, tying the game at 3 when his second goal entered the twine with 18.5 seconds remaining in the middle stanza.

It was his first goal, however — a shorthanded tally at 17:55 of the second — that brought the score to 3-2, and amazed the faithful at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.

Beaudoin took the puck near the goal-line, and shot it at a near impossible angle towards the net. After ping-ponging around the pads of Union goalie Corey Milan, the rubber finally found its way into the net.

“I think it hit the defenseman in front and went in,” Beaudoin said. “You just have to shoot and shoot some more. Get those lucky bounces.”

His second goal — the tying goal that came with 18.5 seconds showing on the clock — tied the game and sent the Quinnipiac student section into short-lived delirium when Wong won the offensive faceoff and sent it to Beaudoin in the slot. He wristed it through the pads of Milan to tie the game and energize the Bobcats as they went off the ice for the second intermission.

“I think it got the guys a little fired up,” Beaudoin said. “Our intensity wasn’t there tonight, unfortunately. We wanted to win, we just couldn’t get the bounces.”

After controlling the first few minutes of the third period, the Bobcats gave up the back-breaker. Nearly 11 minutes into the frame, Greg Holt took the puck and tried gently lifting it out of the zone.

Bad idea.

Union’s Lane Caffaro kept the puck in, and took a shot that was deflected in by Andrew Buote for his first goal of the season — and the game winning goal to fell the home team.

“That fourth goal was just… it was bad,” Pecknold lamented. “We didn’t get the puck out; that kid just needs to take it and rip it off the glass to get it out. Then he follows it up with not blocking a shot. When you make a mistake like that, you need to drop, sprawl out and eat the puck.”

“I think they tried to rip it around, Lane shot it from the blue line, and I happened to get a stick on it, and send it through [Fisher's] five hole,” Buote said.

“I was real proud of the guys; I thought they faced a lot of adversity,” Leaman said. “They regrouped in the third period and gutted it out.”

“One of the things that made us good last year was we did a great job blocking shots,” Pecknold said. We’re not doing a good job of that right now. That’s not our only problem, but that’s certainly a problem.”

After two saves by Corey Milan in the final minutes on breakaway attempts by David Marshall, and a flurry by the Bobcats thanks to a Union penalty with 3:02 left, Union had their first ECAC Hockey win of the season.

For Pecknold, he’s been singing the same tune all year.

Quinnipiac’s lack of hunger.

“We’re struggling with our competitiveness right now,” Pecknold said. “The guys all know. I could march them in here right now and they’d say the same thing I’m saying. It’s just a little frustrating.”

Meanwhile, the Bobcats were playing without two of their captains, Jamie Bates and Matt Sorteberg. Multiple members of Quinnipiac Sports Information Office refused comment when asked about the nature of their injuries.

“Bates is our best forward, or certainly one of our best forwards. I think he would have been a factor tonight. That’s a tough loss,” Pecknold said. “That’s not the reason we lost tonight. Maybe it contributed a little bit, but our competitiveness was just very hit and miss.”

For Wong, the loss of one of the team’s top players added some extra pressure to shoulders that didn’t need the extra heat.

“There’s always pressure. You can’t point fingers at one guy. You have to play as a team, and that’s been lacking all year,” Wong said.

So now, the Bobcats look ahead to tomorrow’s contest against #18 ranked Rensselaer.

“RPI does different things, so you always adjust to the team you’re going to play,” Pecknold said. “We have our set things that we do, we’re not going to change that. We just need to execute better and play harder. We’ll certainly have to make some adjustments, because RPI is a good team.”

“We’re getting ready for tomorrow,” Beaudoin said. “We have to look forward instead of backwards.”