Sophomore goaltender Yaniv Perets collected his first career win and shutout in his second collegiate game, saving 19 shots in a 3-0 win against Northeastern (2-1-0).

Despite being named the starter in lieu of an injury to graduate goaltender Dylan St. Cyr in the previous game on Friday, Perets delivered immediately. Through two games, he holds a .945 save percentage (SV%) and a 0.96 goals-against average (GAA).

“You’ve always got to be ready,” Perets said. “I was excited to play, and I’ve been working hard at this for a while. Super excited to get out there and start playing. Honestly, words can’t describe, but I was super happy to contribute.”

Quinnipiac (1-0-1) dictated Northeastern’s breakout and smothered the majority of its offensive chances throughout all three periods.

Inverting yesterday’s opening, Quinnipiac took the early lead just 1:25 into the game as senior forward Michael Lombardi poked home a rebound that ensued from a two-on-one chance between respective senior and sophomore forwards Desi Burgart and Ty Smilanic.

Midway through the period, senior forward T.J. Friedmann nearly whiffed on a low-slot shot but managed to get enough of the puck to fool Northeastern sophomore goaltender Devon Levi. The Husky looked surprised by the misfire, and his initial reaction allowed the puck to pop off him and sneak its way over the goal line.

Quinnipiac continued to dominate both ends of the ice for the remainder of the first and much of the second period before extending its lead to three goals.

Friedmann scored his second of the game as the result of a flawless breakout beginning with a stretch pass from graduate defenseman Griffin Mendel to the blade of redshirt junior forward Guus Van Nes.

He then fired a cross-zone pass to junior forward Skyler Brind’Amour who found Friedmann breaking weak side towards the net.

Friedmann patiently beat Levi, who had to stop all momentum to cut back the opposite way but it wasn’t timely enough.

“Being able to get the two to kind of help the guys tonight, it was fun,” Friedmann said. “(Van Nes) made a good play keeping the puck on his stick, he found (Brind’Amour) and (Brind’Amour) just kind of put it there. All I had to do was one little head fake and I had the whole six-by-four. Those two made it easy for me tonight.”

Frustrating the Huskies all game, the Bobcats eliminated several high-danger scoring chances with crucial shot blocks. Senior forward Wyatt Bongiovanni and junior defenseman Jayden Lee had the most notable blocks.

“It’s part of our culture,” Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey head coach Rand Pecknold said. “If you want to win hockey games at this level you’ve got to eat pucks. You’ve got to have that buy-in, and our guys are great at it. Sometimes it’s dropping to a knee and making a block or sometimes it’s with your stick. The guys take a lot of pride in it.”

Bongiovanni suffered a brief injury later in the game as junior defenseman Jayden Struble was assessed a five-minute penalty for interference behind the play. No confirmation was made available but it’s assumed there was head contact which led to the major penalty call.

It was a complete win for Quinnipiac and an important mark in the win column against a top-20 team.

The Bobcats head to Burlington for their next matchup against Vermont on Saturday, Oct. 16.