HAMDEN — No. 9 Quinnipiac extended its win streak to four, defeating the St. Lawrence Saints 4-2 Saturday night. The win moves the Bobcats to 9-3-2 on the season and 3-1 in ECAC play.
“A good win,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “I thought we played really well tonight.”
At the end of the first period, the score was tied at zero. But that score was truly not reflective of the dominance Quinnipiac showed in the first.
Offensively, the Bobcats used their speed and physicality to control the puck in the St. Lawrence end to the tune of 15 shots on goal. All of which were saved by freshman goaltender Colin Winn.
Defensively, Quinnipiac completely neutralized the Saints’ attack. Everywhere they turned, there was a Bobcat jersey ready and able to stop them. That defense held the St. Lawrence offense to only three shots on goal.
When the puck dropped for the second frame, the tides began to turn in favor of the home team.
With 14 minutes left in the period, freshman forward Ethan Wyttenbach found fellow freshman forward Markus Vidiceck just to the right of the crease. Vidiceck found an opening on Winn’s weak side and capitalized on it, netting his sixth goal of the year and giving Quinnipiac a one goal lead.
Twenty seconds later, lightning struck again.
Junior forward Mason Marcellus would take the puck from coast to coast, finding sophomore forward Chris Pelosi in front of the net. Pelosi would take the shot, Winn would deflect it and Marcellus would put the loose puck into the upper right hand corner of the net, extending Quinnipiac’s lead to two.
The Bobcats weren’t done there.
With freshman defensemen Andrew Brown in the penalty box for a hooking call, the Bobcats went on their third power play of the game. Freshman defensemen Graham Sward ripped a shot off of Winn’s pad, and right onto the stick of sophomore forward Aaron Schwartz, who would in turn snipe it behind Winn, moving the Bobcat advantage to three goals.
The scoring momentum for Quinnipiac carried into the final frame. As time expired on the expiring Bobcat power play, Sward found junior Andon Cerbone to the left of Winn. Cerbone would swing the puck to Marcellus, who would net his second of the game and fifth of the year.
St. Lawrence would respond less than 30 seconds later, getting on the board with a goal of their own. Freshman forward Cooper Pierson batted the airborne puck past junior goaltender Matej Marinov putting the Saints on the board.
For the remainder of the period, Quinnipiac would continue its offensive volume, ending the period with 19 shots on goal and finishing the game with 51 total compared to the Saints’ 19.
“I think we did a great job,” Pecknold said. “We generated a ton.”
In the closing minutes of the final period, Pelosi would find himself in the box for a double minor penalty and with Winn pulled, the Saints had a two men advantage on the ice. Freshman forward Filip Juříćeck would capitalize on the advantage, launching a bomb past Marinov, cutting the lead in half.
But it was too little too late for the Saints, as 45 seconds later the final horn rang and the Bobcat’s win became final.
Quinnipiac returns to action next Wednesday, Nov. 26 at home against the Holy Cross Crusaders. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m.
