Coming off a weekend where the Bobcats scored a combined three goals, freshman forward Wyatt Bongiovanni matched that by scoring a natural hat trick on Friday to help the No. 5 Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team (23-6-2 overall, 10-4-1 ECAC Hockey ) defeat the St. Lawrence Saints (4-25-2 overall, 2-15-2 ECAC Hockey) 7-2 in Hamden.
Considering it was his first collegiate hat trick, Bongiovanni expressed how special this accomplishment was.
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[/media-credit]“It felt good,” Bongiovanni said. “I had the chance to get a hat trick in juniors and you never take those moments for granted. It’ll be special and I’ll definitely remember it for a while.”
Over the last four games, the Bobcats’ power play scored two combined goals. St. Lawrence gave them plenty of chances on the power play, as the Bobcats took advantage and scored on three out of four chances. Quinnipiac finished the night going 4-6 on power play chances.
Despite the noted struggles, Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold didn’t see the power play as an issue and knew it would eventually regain form.
“I don’t think the power play has been struggling, I think it’s been good,” Pecknold said. “It’s not always about how many goals you score, if you get great chances it’ll go in eventually.”
The second period saw Bongiovonni do his most damage and score twice to put Quinnipiac up 5-0. Having 14 goals and eight assists for the season, Bongiovanni’s impact certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“He’s been great,” Pecknold said. “He took a big jump from September and October working on rounding out his game. He’s become a much better defensive hockey player and we always knew he can score goals. I’m really happy for Wyatt (Bongiovanni), he’s a great kid and a great student and he’s been a great fit.”
The third period was where St. Lawrence got a couple power plays of its own and scored on both of them. Quinnipiac responded right away as junior Nick Jermain scored his third goal of the season and senior center Scott Davidson scored his second goal of the season to make it a final score of 7-2.
A player that continues to stand out for the Bobcats is senior defenseman and captain Chase Priskie. By tallying an assist and goal on Friday, Priskie continues to make his case for the Hobey Baker Award and knows how important each ECAC hockey game is.
“We watched video this week on St. Lawrence and had an idea of what they wanted to do,” Priskie said. “Any night any team can beat one another, you got to bring your A game. That’s what we focused on this week, not worrying too much about the opponent but controlling our effort and honing on the little things to make us successful.”
The slate gets tougher for Quinnipiac on Saturday as it faces the No. 13 Clarkson Golden Knights (20-10-1 overall, 11-7-1 ECAC Hockey) in Hamden at 7 p.m. Despite already having an edge by winning 4-2 on Feb. 1, Pecknold knows to not take them lightly.
“It’s a completely different animal, with Clarkson being ranked No. 13,” Pecknold said. “For us it’s about getting our energy up and our passion up, while understanding that everything tomorrow will be really hard.”
