In what turned out to be a game of sophomores, the No. 2 Quinnipiac men’s hockey team stomped over St. Lawrence 5-0 Saturday night.

The Saints were unable to gain even an inch on their home ice against the visiting Bobcats. From the very start, the No. 2 team was determined to show their dominance.

Whether it’s the women’s or men’s team, the Bobcats seem to enjoy scoring  in the opening minutes of the first period. Sophomore forward Christophe Fillion scored his fifth goal of the season, after his fellow sophomore forward Cristophe Tellier took advantage of the opportunity of Fillion being left wide open right in front of the Saints’ net.

Only three minutes later, sophomore forward Colin Graf found a perfect shot, just above St Lawrence graduate student goaltender Emil Zetterquist’s pad. This came after a bad turnover in the Saints’ zone, pushing the lead to 2-0.

Following was the first of many penalties during the night. The first power play belonged to St. Lawrence, after sophomore Jacob Quillan went to sit two minutes for cross-checking. Despite six shots from the Saints, Quinnipiac sophomore goaltender Yaniv Perets stopped all of them and the power play was unsuccessful.

The game continued on even strength for all of 11 seconds before another penalty was called, this time it was on Saints junior forward Reilly Moran. The Bobcats were unable to increase their lead, despite not leaving the Saints’ offensive zone for the entire two minutes.

Two minutes later Quillan went to sit down for another two minutes, this time for interference, giving St. Lawrence another (unsuccessful) power play.

Perets was woken up seven minutes before the end of the opening period. The puck almost crossed the goal line, after eight different players from both teams huddled in front of the goaltender. Perets managed to save both shots and the Saints left the confrontation goalless.

After, freshman forward Anthony Cipollone scored his very first goal of his college career, after tipping a shot from junior defenseman Iivari Räsänen, increasing Quinnipiac’s lead to 3-0 by the end of the first period.

The second period saw only one goal, with Graf bringing his total number to 17 goals in his first season at Quinnipiac. Even though the Saints are typically a fast team, tonight they were nowhere near able to outskate the Bobcats. They managed just two shots on goal, both of which easily landed right in Perets’ glove.

Quinnipiac had a shot at three power-plays in this period, the last of which began just 30 seconds before the period ended.

The final period saw four-on-four play, after a penalty on Graf was called just a minute in, with the Quinnipiac power play from the end of the last period still in progress. The bad penalties seemed to show up tonight as St. Lawrence skaters earned two more before the time ran out. 

The Bobcats, however, were unable to turn even one of the five opportunities presented into a goal.

The last goal of the game belonged to senior defenseman Jayden Lee, with his clean shot bringing the score to its final form – 5-0 Quinnipiac. His goal was one of the only two shots on goal the Bobcats had in the last period, destroying Zetterquist’s save percentage.

The Saints had a tough game overall, playing against the Bobcats whose puck possession and passing accuracy was simply spot on.

The game was Perets’ eight shutout of the season and 19th of his career. Those 19 shutouts in 63 career games means that just about every third game, Perets does not allow a single goal to his opponents.

Quinnipiac just did not have a weakness. The sophomores dominated the first two periods. The Bobcats simply did not allow any breathing room for the Saints, proving just how dangerous a team they truly are, leaving New York with all six points. 

After the win, Quinnipiac is 24-3-0 overall and 16-2-0 in the conference. The Bobcats’ next game will be hosted back at their home rink, facing the Yale Bulldogs Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. The latest game in the historic rivalry will now be a good test for the Bobcats, who are on a six-game winning streak.