Overshadowed by the championship banner above the ice, one of the shining moments of the then-No. 2 Quinnipiac men’s hockey’s 2-1 loss to then-No. 6 Boston College Saturday was the emergence of the team’s newcomers. 

The Bobcats — who lost 12 players from last season’s squad — brought in talent from both the transfer portal and the incoming freshman class, at all levels of the roster. Although the hosts fell with nine seconds left in overtime, those faces helped give a glimpse of hope to a championship repeat. 

The most obvious was senior goaltender Vinny Duplessis. The BU transfer was almost perfect in his debut, the only goals allowed was a turnover-induced odd-man rush and a glove-high snipe (the latter ending the game). His 21 saves kept Quinnipiac’s chances alive late, a number of them bringing the crowd to their feet. 

“We expect big things from (Duplessis),” senior forward Jacob Quillan told The Chronicle before the season. “He’s got big shoes to fill … He’s been looking good.” 

Replacing the greatest goaltender in program history is no small task, as last year’s starter Yaniv Perets signed a contract with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. The former Terrier held his own against a strong offensive team. As the Bobcats’ likely starter for the long run, he had a good first showing. 

While the new netminder was stopping shots in between the pipes, the Bobcats’ offense was sparked by a new goal scorer. In his first collegiate game, freshman winger Mason Marcellus found a loose puck in the crease to even the game at one with five minutes left. 

Both Marcellus and freshman center Andon Cerbone came from junior hockey, but their linemate, senior winger Travis Treloar, came in from Ohio State after last season — the same Buckeyes squad that fell to Quinnipiac in the Regional Championship. That trio is made up of players with high expectations, all hoping to contribute early and often. 

“They’re all really skilled,” Quillan said. “We’re expecting them to hop in the lineup right away.” 

While Marcellus (68 points with the Lincoln Stars last season) was the only Bobcat to etch his name into the box score, other players made an impact in Saturday’s game. 

The aforementioned Treloar skated well, logging plenty of ice time and making a good impression on his new coach in his Quinnipiac debut. 

“(Travis is) great, he was really good,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “I think we put a lot of our forwards in a tough spot.” 

The reason why Quinnipiac was put in that tough spot was due to the roster shuffling Pecknold had to do early on. Two first line forwards, sophomore Sam Lipkin (charged with a game misconduct) and junior Collin Graf (head injury), left the game in the first period, forcing the Bobcats’ offense to do some mixing and matching. 

“There were a lot of guys that did really well, I thought Treloar was great tonight, he battled,” Pecknold said. “(Graduate student forward Zach) Tupker was really good. He’s gonna be really good for us.” 

Tupker, a 2022-23 ECAC Hockey Defensive Forward of the Year nominee, was the only Bobcat positive at the face-off dot in both Saturday’s game against BC and Sunday’s exhibition matchup with Northeastern, going 19-13 on the weekend. 

Freshman goaltender Matej Marinov also impressed in his Quinnipiac debut against Northeastern. The Slovak stopped 36 of 38 shots in a 2-2 tie. 

Junior defenseman Davis Pennington, an Omaha transfer, made his presence known against the Huskies. He logged five of his seven shots on the weekend in the game and tallied the game-tying goal late in the third period. 

Fellow blue-liner Cooper Moore, a senior transfer from North Dakota, moved the puck well on the top defensive pairing. The Greenwich, Connecticut, native will play an active role in a defense expected to step up offensively. 

Despite the loss and exhibition tie, the initial performances from both freshmen and transfers gives the Bobcats confidence about their drastic roster turnover.