HAMDEN — Quinnipiac entered its 50th Anniversary game against the RPI Engineers undefeated in the calendar year of 2026, and after a hard fought game from the Engineers, the Bobcats squeaked by 4-3 Saturday evening thanks to freshman forward Markus Vidicek sealing the deal with 17 seconds remaining in overtime.
Despite the victory, the Bobcats weren’t fully satisfied with the result.
“There are sometimes you get a win and it feels like a loss,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “That’s what tonight felt like.”
RPI jumped the Bobcats early, with sophomore defenseman Kazimier Sobieski beating junior goaltender Matej Marinov high off a faceoff win by junior forward Cole Gordon to give the Engineers an early lead. After 20 minutes, RPI looked like the better team, with more sustained zone time than the Bobcats, and Quinnipiac struggled to connect on its passes.
The No. 8 Bobcats looked like they were able to regroup in the second period and flipped the ice on the Engineers, starting with a good chance set up by sophomore forward Chris Pelosi and freshman forward Ethan Wyttenbach, but the Bobcats once again couldn’t finish.
Quinnipiac would finally get a puck past freshman goaltender Nate Krawchuk just shy of 11 minutes into the second period, as the senior captain forward Victor Czerneckianair won a faceoff back to junior forward Andone Cerbone, who netted an incredible sharp-angle snipe to put the Bobcats on the board.
For Cerbone, it was his fourth of the season and second of the weekend. Despite not featuring on the scoresheet much through the first part of the season, Cerbone felt little changed over the break.
“Just sticking with the process. Doing the same things, the chances were there.”
26 seconds later, a pass from behind the net by sophomore defenseman Elliott Groenewold led to a shot by fellow sophomore defenseman Braden Blace. With freshman forward Matthew Lansing finding himself in the right place at the right time to tip home the goal, his sixth of the year, gave the Bobcats the lead.
With just five minutes left in the second period, senior defenseman Will Gilson was called for the game’s first penalty, which saw RPI get the first look on the power play.
Despite some potential chances, notably the Engineers unable to pounce on a rebound off a Sobieski drive, the Bobcats killed off the penalty, entering the locker room with a 2-1 advantage.
The Engineers would not go away quietly, as just one minute into the third period, a loose puck off a save from Marinov gave sophomore forward Rainers Rullers an open net. He buried the puck for his fourth goal of the season to tie the game back at two.
The third period saw many of the problems that plagued the Bobcats in the first return, with passes not connecting and several zone entries waved offside. The puck also stopped bouncing their way, as the Bobcats pressured the Engineers for a whole minute off a delayed penalty call for high-sticking on freshman defenseman Thomas Klassek, yet no goal could be found.
The ensuing power play also saw Quinnipiac struggle to establish the offensive zone, with the only notable chances being a Wyttenbach drive right into Krawchuk’s chest and sophomore forward Tyler Borgula putting a shot wide of the net.
The teams traded the puck up and down the ice until Blace was called for boarding on graduate student forward Luciano Wilson, giving RPI a second power play. It was Marinov’s turn to step up, making a few big stops, first freshman forward Matthew Buckley, then sophomore forward Jagger Tapper.
After killing the penalty, the game looked set for overtime, but with just 1:50 on the clock, a behind-the-net pass from Cerbone found Pelosi in the slot, who beat Krawchuk high to give Quinnipiac a 3-2 lead.
Yet, the game was not over. RPI head coach Eric Lang pulled Krawchuk for the extra attacker and initially found little traction. After an offsides call on the Engineers and a subsequent faceoff win, Krawchuk was pulled again, and with only 14 seconds left in the game, a pass from Wilson ended up in the slot. It was collected by Sobieski, who fed it to Buckley, who rifled home the tying goal, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra frame, the Bobcats jumped first, with two shots from Groenewold, one wide of the net and the other stopped by Krawchuk. RPI also had its golden opportunity, with a great feed from Tapper just rolling off the stick of Klassek in the slot.
Late heroics would be in order again. Seventeen seconds before a shootout, Wyttenbach found Vidicek, whose first attempt was denied by Krawchuk, but put home the second chance, giving Quinnipiac the win.
“[Wyttenbach] had the puck…I was kind of hoping he’d drop it to me, which he did,” Vidicek said. “Took it to the net, got a bounce and put it in.”
His team-leading 14th goal came right as the team needed it most, helping the Bobcats stay undefeated in 2026 and ended the celebratory night with a victory.
The Bobcats will be back in action with more conference play on Friday, Jan. 16, as they face off against the Colgate Raiders. Puck drop from Hamilton, N.Y. is scheduled for 7 p.m.
