In a night of first and seconds for Quinnipiac, the men’s ice hockey team (7-2 overall, 2-2 ECAC) was defeated by the No. 12 Union Dutchmen (7-3-1 overall, 3-3 ECAC) on Saturday in Hamden, 5-1.
It was the second loss in which the Bobcats were defeated 5-1, but head coach Rand Pecknold credits Union for bringing the fight to Hamden.
“I thought Union was really good tonight,” Pecknold said. “I thought [goaltender] Darion Hanson was the best player in the game and we have to do a better job of trying to score goals since we had 35 shots and only one goal to show for it. Union was the better team and they deserved to win that game.”
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[/media-credit]Union didn’t waste any time as 3:12 into the first period, senior right wing Ryan Walker put one in off a rebound to give the Dutchmen a 1-0 lead. However, the Bobcats limited them to one goal and finish the period outshooting the Dutchmen 9-8.
In the second period, Union continued its offensive push as sophomore right wing John Kosack would put the Dutchmen up 2-0. However, freshman center Michael Lombardi scored his first career goal on a wrap around to cut the Bobcats lead to 2-1.
Taking the place of injured junior forward Nick Jermain, Lombardi wanted to put more emphasis on the team’s performance instead of his own accomplishment.
“It would’ve been nice to get two points, but it still felt good getting it off my back,” Lombardi said. “Our team doesn’t quit, and from top to bottom our team buys in and so there is no quit in our group.”
Although Lombardi tried to spark the Bobcats, Union’s offense found its rhythm in the third period as junior forward Anthony Rinaldi scored consecutive goals to put the Dutchmen up 4-1. Kosack scored his second goal of the game on a 2-on-1 opportunity to extend the lead to 5-1, which would be the game’s final score.
Pecknold decided to start sophomore goaltender Keith Petruzzelli on Saturday, who made 18 saves on 23 shots. On Friday, junior goaltender Andrew Shortridge recorded a shutout against RPI while making 12 saves.
Pecknold still believes that the two-goalie system will be the most effective moving forward.
“We have two good goalies,” Pecknold said. “We gave them both a chance to play and will play it by ear and see what happens next weekend.
As for next weekend, Quinnipiac will have to travel to face the reigning ECAC Hockey champions Cornell on Friday, Nov. 16, who are 4-2 overall and 2-2 in ECAC Hockey play.
Despite not being on the team last season, since his first day in the program Lombardi was instructed of how important ECAC Hockey games are and especially ones against programs like Cornell, who knocked Quinnipiac out of the ECAC Hockey playoffs last year.
“We had the Cornell News [headline] that said, ‘How sweep it is’ in our weight room all summer,” Lombardi said. “There is definitely an added motivation going into this game.”
