SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — It took 31 shots and two game-tying goals, but after 60 minutes and some change, Quinnipiac men’s hockey left MassMutual Arena in Springfield with its first victory of its title-defense campaign, 3-2 in overtime over AIC Friday.
Junior forward Jacob Quillan played hero once again in the extra frame. He baited Yellowjackets freshman netminder Nils Wallstrom out of position and potted the puck in an empty net to seal the victory.
“I think (AIC) got caught on (the ice) for a little bit there so we were just trying to possess the puck and hopefully they broke down,” Quillan said. “(Davis Pennington) made a nice pass to me, two guys went to him, made a nice backdoor pass and I made a move and scored.”
It was the third time the Bobcats have gone to overtime in as many games this season, an early lesson in adversity, but also capitalizing on chances when they come.
“It’s all relative,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “We were down in both games, it’s good we came back but it’d be nice to get a 6-1 win. But you just take what comes in front of you, I do like the way the guys battled.”
Despite being outshot 17-7 and vastly out possessed thus far in the game, AIC struck first midway through the second period. Sophomore forward Josh Barnes cut wide into the offensive zone and just snuck the puck between Bobcats senior goaltender Vinny Duplessis’ right shoulder and the bar to give the Yellow Jackets the lead.
Quinnipiac outshot its Atlantic Hockey foes by nearly double in the game, but its quality of shots left it playing catch up on the scoreboard.
“We had a lot of good chances and we just kind of shot it into the goalie,” Pecknold said. “I thought he was really good, but I just think we didn’t capitalize on our chances. We shot a lot of pucks low. Butterfly goalies, it’s hard to beat them low post.”
Graduate student defenseman Jayden Lee equalized with a seeing-eye point shot early in the third period, but the Yellow Jackets stung right back.
Graduate student forward Logan Jenuwine delivered a beautiful pass while falling on the doorstep to graduate student forward Blake Wells, who collected his first goal of the year to retake the lead.
Down a goal, playing four-on-four with under four minutes to play, Pecknold called a timeout and pulled Duplessis for the extra attacker, which — as it so often does for him — paid off.
Quillan centered a puck into traffic and crashed the net alongside senior forward Travis Treloar. The pair stabbed at the puck until Treloar eventually shoved it across the goal line.
“Our thought was just getting a lot of pucks to the net,” Treloar said. “(Quillan) made a nice play over to me and I just tried to jam at it as lost as I could until the whistle blew and luckily it went in.”
Treloar, an Ohio State transfer, joined the Bobcats’ top line for the evening with junior forward Collin Graf out of the lineup with an injury. Graf’s absence forced some notable line shifts on paper, but on the ice, the players adapted quickly.
“Put me on a line with anyone on this team, I’ll be very fortunate,” Treloar said. “Put me on the wing or center, I’m comfortable in both, but obviously (Quillan) and (Sam Lipkin) are really high-end players.”
Building off Friday’s win, Quinnipiac is back in action on its home ice against the Yellow Jackets Saturday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
