Sophomore Scott Zurevinski’s overtime goal 29 seconds into the extra frame salvaged a victory for the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team over the Bentley Falcons Saturday afternoon at the TD Bank Sports Center. The Bobcats won 3-2 in their home opener to improve to 3-0 on the year.
Zurevinski picked up a rebound and shot it past Bentley goaltender Kyle Rank to give Quinnipiac the victory. Senior Eric Lampe and junior Zach Hansen each picked up their second assists of the season on the goal.
Quinnipiac, who came into the game winning two road contests against No. 17 Ohio State last weekend, was lucky to come away with a victory against 0-2 Bentley, according to head coach Rand Pecknold.
“They just outworked us,” he said. “We stole a win tonight.”
The first period saw much of the game’s action, as three goals were scored. Pecknold was critical of the way the team came to play.
“I thought our energy level was terrible tonight,” Pecknold said. “I thought Bentley was the better team. I thought they played hard and competed, and I thought our guys just did not prepare well for the game tonight.”
Quinnipiac started freshman Mathieu Cadieux who was playing in his first career game. Cadieux stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced.
While Pecknold was critical with the way his team played, he liked what he saw from the young goalie.
“He played well,” Pecknold said. “We weren’t playing well in front of him, that’s for sure. Our freshmen ‘D’ were playing like freshmen ‘D’ and our vets weren’t very good either. He did a nice job. He had to battle to win that game for us.”
Quinnipiac played seven freshmen overall, including four on defense.
The Bobcats took an early lead three minutes into the game. Freshman Reese Rolheiser’s shot from the right circle deflected off a Bentley player’s stick and the puck hit off the top left corner and into the goal. The goal was the first of Rolheiser’s career, and senior Brandon Wong and sophomore Mike Glaicar were credited with the assists.
Bentley responded four and a half minutes later to tie the game at 1. Jamie Nudy was in the right place at the right time, as he picked up a rebound in front of a wide open goal and shot. His linemates, Dustin Cloutier and Marc Menzione, assisted on the goal.
Quinnipiac earned back the lead a little more than 10 minutes later when Wong kept jamming away at the puck until it eventually went behind Rank for his second goal of the season. The assists went to Rolheiser and freshman D’Arcy Oakes. On the goal, Wong and Rolheiser each scored their second point of the game.
Following the first intermission, the Bobcats played sloppily. Freshman Jeremy Langlois committed two boarding penalties in the first three minutes of play. Though the Falcons didn’t score on either, they clearly had the offensive momentum.
At 5:21 into the period, Kane Osmars found the back of the net to tie the game. He received a pass from Dan Koudys in the Bobcats’ zone, capitalizing for his first goal of the season. The second assist went to Mike Switzer.
Other than the goal, Cadieux didn’t allow anything else. He made 15 saves during the second and third periods to preserve the tie game heading into overtime.
Zurevinski’s overtime winner was his second goal of the season after scoring 11 during his freshman campaign last year.
In a game riddled with penalties, no power play goals were scored. Quinnipiac was 0-for-4 when they had a man advantage.
“It all comes from poor mental preparation,” Pecknold said. “We weren’t ready to play the game, and then we were in scramble mode the whole night.”
The Bobcats will test their unbeaten record with two road games against out-of-conference foe Robert Morris next Friday and Saturday in Moon Township, Pa.
