HAMDEN — Quinnipiac men’s hockey hasn’t lost to Dartmouth on its home ice since Jan. 29, 2010. Until today, that is, when the Bobcats fell to the Big Green 4-2 in their ECAC season opener.
“Congrats to Dartmouth,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “They played hard tonight.”
The game started out hopeful for the Bobcats after their shutout at Holy Cross just last week and an overall 28-11 record against the Big Green. Donning camo in honor of Salute to Service Day, everything seemed to have been lined up for Quinnipiac to succeed.
Dartmouth had a chance to open the score in the middle of the first period but hit the bar — which was about all of the action that the period saw, despite Quinnipiac notching eight shots on goal out of its 20 on the night.
“Their goalie played well, made some saves when he needed to,” Pecknold said. “I don’t even know the kid’s name but he was probably the best player on the ice tonight, he was excellent.”
Dartmouth’s junior forward Alex Krause broke the seal on the night in the middle of the second period after connecting on a pass from freshman left wing Jack Silverberg.
Barely four minutes later, Quinnipiac got handed quite the embarrassing goal from Big Green senior center Sean Chisholm when a failed defensive play left Quinnipiac’s freshman goaltender Dylan Silverstein out of the net completely, and Chisholm stopped the puck to slowly push it over the red line.
The tide seemed to have turned for Quinnipiac after junior forward Jeremy Wilmer finally put one past sophomore goaltender Roan Clarke on the power-play.
That was the only man advantage the Bobcats found themselves on the entire game.
“I won’t comment on the officiating, because I’m not allowed to, but we’re not getting any breaks there either so it’s been frustrating,” Pecknold said.
Wilmer’s goal’s momentum seemed to have continued into the third, as freshman right winger Tyler Borgula snapped a shot from around the blue line to even out the score.
But that was about all of the spark for the Bobcats. A tripping call on junior defenseman Charlie Leddy left Dartmouth with quite the opportunity, as senior defenseman John Fusco scored barely seconds into Dartmouth’s power play.
“We had plenty of chances, but we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot with things that we do continually that we talk about that we’re not supposed to do, so it’s a work in progress,” Pecknold said.
And just because there wasn’t enough embarrassment for the night, once Pecknold pulled Silverstein in the waning three minutes, Dartmouth sophomore defenseman CJ Foley noted an empty-netter after a failed interception from Quinnipiac’s graduate defenseman Aaron Bohlinger, bringing the score to its final form, 4-2 in favor of the Big Green.
“It’s been disappointing,” Pecknold said. “It’s like a broken record. We just don’t buy in, it’s a process. We gotta get better so I’m frustrated. It’s a great group of guys, we will buy in at some point, but I hope it’s not in January, hope it’s in November.”
The Bobcats look to shake themselves off in a home match-up against Harvard Saturday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
