Men’s ice hockey traveled down to Tempe, Arizona, to face off in the Ice Breaker Tournament from Oct. 10-11. The Bobcats were competing alongside Arizona State University, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The last time Quinnipiac competed in the tournament was in 2022 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, where they faced off against the College of the Holy Cross, Boston College and Northeastern University.
ALASKA FAIRBANKS
In the first slate of the tournament, the Bobcats faced off against the Nanooks of Alaska Fairbanks. Quinnipiac has a small history against Alaska Fairbanks, having competed against them once in 2013, with a 4-1 victory.
However, that was 12 years ago. Twelve years of program building and improvement. And in this matchup, the Bobcats came up short against the Nanooks, 2-1.
The Nanooks would strike first, on the Bobcats’ penalty kill. The Nanook’s setup and positioning on this goal would prove difficult for the Bobcats to break up.
Winning the faceoff back to the point, followed by a low and hard shot from sophomore defenseman Nathan Rickey. This would allow Alaska to crash the net, creating chaos in front of Quinnipiac’s junior goaltender Dylan Silverstein, letting graduate student forward Michael Citara get a quick tip-in.
Quinnipiac’s lone goal came from a delayed penalty on the Nanooks, allowing the Bobcats to pull Silverstein, playing 5-on-6.
With the man advantage, senior forward Jeremy Wilmer sneaked a no-look pass from the point down to freshman forward Ethan Wyattenbach, firing a one-time past Nanooks senior goaltender Lassi Lehti, to tie the game at one a piece.
The second frame would remain scoreless on both ends, with Quinnipiac failing to score on three power play opportunities.
The Nanooks would ultimately get the final tally of the game, with a goal from senior forward Alexander Malinowski just two minutes into the final 20 minutes of play.
The goal would result from a failed clearing attempt by the Bobcats, leading to a turnover, right to the stick of Malinowski. A quick dump to the opposite corner would find a Bobcats skate and redirect past Silverstein to secure the game for the Nanooks.
Pretty unlucky on that play there.
Ultimately, Quinnipiac could not generate chances, especially on the power play. The Bobcats went zero for four on the man advantage, while further only totaling four shots during the power play.
So far this season, not including its exhibition matchup against Providence, Quinnipiac has one power-play goal, despite having 11 man-advantage opportunities.
Additionally, the Nanooks won 33 faceoffs to Quinnipiac’s 30 wins, while also blocking 23 shots to the Bobcats’ six.
The differential in blocked shots demonstrates the Nanooks’ willingness to throw bodies in front of shots, limiting the Bobcats’ opportunities to crash the net for rebound opportunities.
NOTRE DAME
Going into its second game of the tournament, Quinnipiac’s loss against Alaska lit a fire under the Bobcats, coming back with a dominant 7-2 win over Notre Dame.
This dominant win, fueled by Quinnipiac’s loss to Alaska, saw 11 different Bobcats on the score sheet, with a great influence from sophomore forward Aaron Schwartz with one goal and two assists, who had just been skating in practice in late September in a no-contact jersey.
And of those 11 Bobcats on the score sheet, the collegiate first-years had a big showing, with four freshmen.
Quinnipiac opened up scoring, getting its first power-play goal of the season from freshman forward Antonin Verreault. The Mirabel, Quebec native was not done there, later scoring Quinnipiac’s final goal of the game.
Verreault played 256 games in the QMJHL before coming to Quinnipiac, for the Gatineau Olympiques and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, finishing with 296 points.
Freshman forward Markus Vidicek would score Quinnipiac’s game-winning goal, while also providing an assist for the Bobcats on Verreault’s first goal. Freshman forward Matthew Lansing would also tally an assist on Quinnipiac’s fifth goal, with a feed to freshman forward Ethan Wyttenbach.
Wyttenbach has got to be the most influential Bobcat thus far in the season, currently leading the team in points with four on two goals and two assists in three games played.
The Roslyn, N.Y. native, played last season in the USHL for the Sioux Falls Stampede, recording 51 points on 24 goals and 27 assists in 44 games played.
Wyttenbach would show his speed and skill against Notre Dame, tallying one goal and an assist against the Fighting Irish. Additionally, he was named ECAC Rookie Player of the Week on Oct. 13.
While the new talent to the Bobcats’ roster had its time to shine, the returners also made their impact against Notre Dame.
Out of the box from a high-sticking penalty, Schwartz would get a feed from a battling junior forward Mason Marcellus, which he would deliver right back to Marcellus to put Quinnipiac up 2-0 going into the first intermission.
The returning talent working together didn’t end there, with Marcellus giving a sneaky backward feed to sophomore forward Chris Pelosi, from behind the net, which he lifted over the right shoulder of Fighting Irish sophomore goaltender Nicholas Kempf.
And while Quinnipiac took fewer penalties in its second matchup of the tournament, five penalties are still five more than a team would like. Especially with the Fighting Irish scoring its second goal of the game on a Bobcat penalty kill.
Against Notre Dame, Quinnipiac won 34 faceoffs to Notre Dame’s 30 wins, while also outshooting the Fighting Irish 38 to 25, commanding the shooting game.
With the win over Notre Dame, men’s ice hockey has secured six straight victories against the Big Ten Conference, beating the Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin and the Pennsylvania State University.
After competing in Tempe for the weekend, the Bobcats will open play in Hamden, facing off against the University of Maine in a weekend series, with the first game on Oct. 17. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m.