The Quinnipiac Bobcats men’s ice hockey team dropped their second straight game as they lost 3-1 to No. 17 Dartmouth on Friday in Hanover, N.H.
After a scoreless first period, the Big Green scored the game’s first goal on a shorthanded opportunity. Just 37 seconds into the second, forward Alex Goodship fired a shot that found room between the pads of Bobcat tender Eric Hartzell.
Dartmouth (14-7-3, 10-5-2 ECAC) added to their lead 13:45 into the period when forward Nick Walsh capitalized on a power play. Defensive linemates Joe Stejskal and Evan Stevens worked the puck between the circles until Stejskal fired a shot at Hartzell. Walsh timed the shot perfectly in front of the net and deflected it past Hartzell for the 2-0 lead. The Big Green outshot the Bobcats 13-7 in the period,due in part to five Quinnipiac (13-12-5, 6-8-4 ECAC) penalties.
Late in the third period, Quinnipiac got within one goal as Connor Jones netted his ninth goal of the season. On the power play, John Dunbar found Jones’ brother Kellen who then found Connor on the left side of the Dartmouth goal. Connor took a shot and beat Big Green goalie James Mello stick side. The Jones twins extended their active point streak to four games – the longest of the year.
With only five minutes remaining in the game, the Bobcats’ struggle to stay out of the box continued. Three penalties in the final 1:04 killed any chance of tying the game. The Bobcats had nine penalties on the night for 21 minutes while Dartmouth had four for just eight minutes.
Big Green forward Paul Lee ended Quinnipiac’s hopes of a comeback with an empty netter with just over a minute to play.
Hartzell, ranked 10th in the nation in save percentage at .926, made 25 saves on the night on 27 shots, while Dartmouth keeper Mello stopped 21 of 22.
Quinnipiac sits in seventh place in the ECAC with four games remaining in the regular season. They’ll face Yale for the Heroes Hat trophy on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at the TD Bank Sports Center.
