Ethan de Jong scores twice as Quinnipiac starts new year with 3-0 win over Dartmouth

Graduate+student+forward+Ethan+de+Jong+potted+two+goals+en+route+to+a+3-0%2C+Quinnipiac+win.

Jack Muscatello

Graduate student forward Ethan de Jong potted two goals en route to a 3-0, Quinnipiac win.

Zack Hochberg, Staff Writer
January 7, 2023

With Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold back behind the bench, the Quinnipiac men’s hockey team kicked off 2023 with a 3-0 win over Dartmouth Friday night.

Pecknold, along with freshman forward Sam Lipkin, missed the Bobcats’ previous game against Holy Cross on Dec. 30, due to their participation in the 2023 World Juniors with Team USA. The United States lost to Canada in the semifinal before beating Sweden in an 8-7 overtime thriller to claim the bronze medal.

The Bobcats came out firing on all cylinders, namely the squad’s bottom line, creating a flurry of chances around the net, but Dartmouth freshman goaltender Cooper Black was up to the challenge early on, denying each of the Bobcats’ scoring opportunities.

Quinnipiac broke through six minutes in as graduate student forward Ethan de Jong ripped a quick shot off a faceoff win by senior forward Skyler Brind’Amour past Black for a 1-0 Bobcats lead.

Once the first goal went through, the Bobcats wasted no time getting their second. Senior defenseman CJ McGee (who was playing left wing) took advantage of a loose puck in the crease, sliding the rebound opportunity past Black for Quinnipiac’s second goal in under 20 seconds.

The two-goal scoring outburst led Dartmouth head coach Reid Cashman to call a timeout to calm his team down.

The strategy worked, as the Big Green settled into their game, and generated quality offensive zone time while testing Quinnipiac sophomore goaltender Yaniv Perets on a few good looks.

Later, de Jong tried to give the Bobcats a third goal in the first, but was tripped up by freshman defenseman Tucker McRae, sending Quinnipiac to the power play for the first time in the evening.

The Bobcats squandered their opportunity to increase their lead when sophomore forward Cristophe Tellier got called for a tripping penalty of his own, sending the two squads to four-on-four.

Neither team scored on the four-on-four and the Bobcats killed off the remaining minute of a Dartmouth power play to take the two-goal advantage into the first intermission.

The intermission didn’t cool off the Bobcats at all. De Jong netted his second goal of the game just two minutes into the second frame, beating Black high stick side on a poorly-timed shift change by Dartmouth. With the goal, de Jong’s recorded his fourth multi-goal game in his career, the most by any current Bobcat.

The hosts controlled the pace of the game, dominating on the defensive end to keep the Big Green away from the net. Perets faced just three shots in the second period.

The Bobcats continued to keep the same energy as they began the final 20 minutes with a three-goal advantage.

Quinnipiac gave Dartmouth a chance to get on the board with 11 minutes left when sophomore forward Christophe Fillion was called for slashing, but the Bobcats killed off the penalty to keep the shutout intact.

As the final buzzer sounded, the Bobcats moved to 16-1-3 with the 3-0 victory, remaining unbeaten since Oct. 23.

Quinnipiac will stay home for a bout with No. 9/10 Harvard tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.