HAMDEN, Conn — After blanking Boston College in the first game of the season, Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey failed to execute on several scoring chances, ultimately leading to LIU clawing its way back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a 2-2 tie Sunday afternoon.

Sophomore transfer forward Collin Graf kicked open the scoring with a laser from the left dot on the power play for his first of the season and first in a Quinnipiac jersey. Although the Bobcats went one-for-six on the man advantage today, they did score at least once in both games this weekend.

Quinnipiac pumped a plethora of shots on net, finishing with 39. Outside of allowing Graf’s blast and a top-shelf snipe by sophomore forward Christophe Tellier while on the rush, LIU’s senior netminder Vinnie Purpura was the first star of the game.

Tellier with a top shelf shot on the rush after Heinke lost a handle on the puck in the slot.

It's Tellier's first of the season and Heinke's first collegiate assist.

QU doubles its lead to two.

— peter piekarski (@PiekarskiPeter) October 9, 2022

“Purpura was excellent,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “Excellent performance in net and their willingness to block shots changed the whole game.”

Purpura made key stops throughout the game, along with his team blocking 27 shots. But none were bigger than his last-second desperation save against graduate student forward T.J. Friedmann, who redirected a pass on net, which Purpura denied with a sprawling left pad. 

LIU’s first step in erasing Quinnipiac’s lead happened when sophomore forward Chris Pappas swiped the puck from graduate student transfer defenseman Jacob Nordqvist, turned in on the QU net and beat sophomore goaltender Yaniv Perets with a five-hole shot. 

After four consecutive flip-flopping penalties from both squads, graduate student Anthony Vincent entered the QU zone on Perets’ left side and cut toward the net just above the faceoff dot and executed a curl and drag shot right into the top corner over Perets’s glove to tie the game. 

Neither side could find twine in overtime, meaning the game would end in a tie, but would head to a shootout regardless. Ultimately, Quinnipiac  won 1-0 with freshman Sam Lipkin being the lone shootout scorer. 

“It was frustrating from our end,” Pecknold said. “We certainly didn’t give our best effort.”

Not the outcome that Quinnipiac expected nor wanted and it will need to dial in for this upcoming weekend as the Bobcats head to North Dakota to clash with the No. 3 team in the country.