HAMDEN — No. 10 Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey concludes its weekend series against the No. 7 Maine Black Bears with a 4-0 win. 

With the win, Quinnipiac finishes the series with one win and one tie, claiming an unofficial shootout win in Friday night’s game.

“I thought that was a great win tonight…I thought good team effort,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “Buy-in was there, you know, really, really happy with how we played, had some new guys jump in the lineup.”

Quinnipiac’s play was dominated by strong offensive chances, with even stronger defense on the blue line and in front of junior goaltender Matej Marinov. 

The Bobcats came out of the gate strong, dominating play throughout the first period, a drastic difference from how both teams came out in Friday night’s matchup.

Quinnipiac outshot the Black Bears 11 to four in the first 20 minutes of play, holding Maine to only one shot on goal for a majority of the period. 

“I thought we battled and I thought we kept it simple,” Pecknold said. “You know, we’re moving pucks north, and did a better job with our f3.”

A large part of Quinnipiac’s strong offensive play throughout the period was thanks for the defense holding down the fort for the Bobcats. Senior defenseman Charlie Leddy stood strong for the Bobcats on the blue line, reading plays. Leddy’s read allowed him to make timely step ups on the blue line, keeping the puck in the offensive zone and allowing Quinnipiac to put more pressure on the Black Bears.

And with great defense comes great offensive movement and opportunities, allowing Quinnipiac to get so many chances on net during the first frame. 

Yet, the Bobcats would further capitalize on an area they had been struggling with thus far in the season: power play opportunities.

Prior to this weekend, the Bobcats were one for 11 on the power play, while also going one for three in yesterday’s matchup. 

However, the Bobcats didn’t let their man advantage chances go to waste, scoring three of their four goals on the power play today. 

Maine let the pressure from the Bobcats get to them, committing 10 penalties in the game, accumulating 42 penalty minutes. Additionally, committing major penalties, resulting in two game misconducts and losing freshman forward Jaden Lipinski and junior defender Bodie Nobes.

The Bobcats would capitalize on Maine’s first five minute major, with a pass from senior forward Jeremy Wilmer to senior defenseman Will Gilson, who sniped it past freshman goaltender Mathis Rousseau. 

This marked Gilson’s first goal as a Bobcat, being the only transfer to this years squad. 

“It feels great,” Gilson said. “We played really well. It’s been really, really great. So that was good, and the crowd was great too.” 

Quinnipiac’s crowd showed up for Bobcat weekend, packing the stands for both matchups and bringing the energy into M&T Bank Arena. 

And Quinnipiac was able to capitalize on this energy and momentum to get the upper hand on the Black Bears. 

Quinnipiac would look to carry its energy into the second period; however the first half of the period was met with dominance from the Black Bears. The Black Bears, only getting four shots on goal in the first period, would outshot the Bobcats in the second period. 

Yet, the Bobcats relied on Marinov, stopping all 11 shots from the Black Bears in the second period, and making 19 saves to secure the shutout. 

Quinnipiac was able to secure its second goal of the game from senior forward Mason Marcellus on a chip up the boards from sophomore forward Aaron Schwartz. Marcellus would put on the wheels, taking it behind the net and shoving it backdoor before Rousseau could get to his far post. 

Heading into the final 20 minutes of action, Quinnipiac was able to truly carry its momentum into the final frame. 

The Bobcats would once again capitalize on the man advantage, with a pass from Schwartz to Marcellus, followed by a centering pass to Wilmer, sending it over the left shoulder of Rousseau. This goal would give the Bobcats a three-goal lead, and the momentum to finish the shutout.

Schwartz had a stellar game for the Bobcats, assisting on Quinnipiac’s first three goals, to extend his assists to six on the season, after missing the Bobcats’ first game of the season. 

“I think we had all the momentum…and just carried on,” Schwartz said. 

And he was absolutely right, Quinnipiac did have that momentum. 

Freshman forward Ethan Wyttenbach would seal the game for the Bobcats off of another committed Maine five minute major, adding his fourth goal of the season.

The Bobcats were able to connect in a way they struggled to early on in yesterday’s matchup, giving it the energy and momentum it needed to succeed early on. 

Quinnipiac will travel to Holy Cross on Tuesday, Oct. 21, to face off against the Holy Cross Crusaders. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.