The third period has certainly not been favorable for Quinnipiac’s men’s ice hockey team, as the Bobcats have been outscored 13-6 in the final period.
Nine of the 13 goals allowed have come in the past four games, including one in the Bobcats’ 4-1 loss to Cornell Friday night.
Cornell’s Sean Whitney scored 16:39 into the third to give the Big Red more insurance when he took a pass from Dan Nichols and shot it past Quinnipiac goalie Dan Clarke for the goal.
The Big Red took a big lead early when Braden Birch received a Jordan Kary pass and put it behind Clarke. Four and-a-half minutes later Nick D’Agostino took a shot that deflected off Clarke’s pads and trickled over his shoulder, finding its way into the back of the net.
Freshman Connor Jones scored his second goal of the season 5:02 into the second when he intercepted a Cornell pass and sent the puck past Garman’s left shoulder for the lone Bobcat goal.
But 43 seconds later, Cornell (2-3-0, 2-1-0 ECAC) got its two-goal lead back when Locke Jillison responded with a one-timer from John Esposito.
Clarke stopped 12 of Cornell’s 16 shots taken in the game, but was outmatched by Mike Garman, who stopped 23 of the Bobcats’ 24 shots.
Quinnipiac (4-4-1, 0-2-1 ECAC) now rides a four-game winless streak (0-3-1), in which its opponents outscored the Bobcats 17-7.
The Bobcats allowed three goals in the third to give St. Cloud State a 5-2 victory Oct. 30. The Bobcats gave up two third-period goals to Brown Nov. 5 for a 3-3 tie. Rival Yale scored three goals in a three-minute span in the third period Nov. 6 in Quinnipiac’s 5-1 loss.
And even though the only goal the Bobcats allowed in the third period made no direct impact in the game, the Bobcats still have not scored in the third period in their past four games.
Clarke’s struggles behind net continued. Clarke has started eight of the nine Bobcat games and opened the year at 3-1. But things seemed to change when Eric Hartzell held St. Cloud State to only two goals in Quinnipiac’s 4-2 vicory Oct. 29.
Since, Clarke is winless and has allowed 17 goals. His GAA has risen from 2.00 to 3.125 in the past four games.
Quinnipiac plays conference rival Colgate Saturday night in hopes of winning its first game since Oct. 29.
