Not even 50 shots on net could deliver a victory for the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team.
“Its amazing. It will just not go in the net,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “This is unbelievable.”
The team’s latest loss came at the hands of Niagara, 6-2, and it was never close. The Purple Eagles went up 2-0 just over five minutes into the game and they never looked back.
“Give Andrew Hare a lot of credit,” Pecknold said. “He was the best player on the ice tonight. Sometimes you just run into a great goalie.”
The loss was Quinnipiac’s ninth in its last 11 games.
The Bobcats’ best chance came just 40 seconds into the game when a shot got by Hare, but came to a screeching halt at the goal line and was flicked away by a defender. Getting so close, but not finishing was the trend for the Bobcats in this game.
Trailing 4-0 late in the second period, Greg Holt put the Bobcats on the board with a power-play goal with 33 seconds left in the second, but the game was out of reach at that point. Scott Zurevinski passed to Holt curling at the top of the left faceoff circle and Holt turned and rifled it over Hare’s shoulder.
The lead expanded to four with three minutes left in the second. The Bobcats turned the puck over at their blue line sending the Purple Eagles on a shorthanded two-on-one up ice. Paul Zanette skated up the left side of the ice and fired a shot over the shoulder of goaltender Mathieu Cadieux, who replaced starter Dan Clarke after Niagara’s third goal.
The Purple Eagles put the game out of reach with just over eight minutes left with Jason Beattie’s power-play goal from the top of the zone. Niagara added a shorthanded goal from Jim Burichin to seal the game with 11:23 remaining.
Bobcat freshman Ben Arnt netted his first career goal on a power play with three seconds left to make it 6-2.
The Bobcats return to the ice Saturday at 7 p.m. when they face Niagara in the conclusion of their two-game series and the final non-conference game for the Bobcats.
Photo credit: Andrew Vazzano
