When the top-seeded team in the ECAC plays the bottom-seeded team, a certain result is expected. Words like dominance come to mind. A team with proper “buy-in” plays its game, destroys its opponent and moves on to the next contest.
The No. 6 Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team followed that plan to a tee in its Friday evening matchup against the St. Lawrence Saints, extending its win streak in conference play to seven games with the 7-0 victory.
The Bobcats’ performance against St. Lawrence demonstrated exactly the type of clean, dominant hockey necessary to continue their hot streak into the playoffs.
Quinnipiac wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the opening period. A tipped shot by freshman forward Markus Vidicek would put the Bobcats up a goal less than five minutes into the contest.
Seventy-two seconds later, Quinnipiac would capitalize on another one of its 15 first-period shots on goal. Off a face-off win — another area where the Bobcats completely dominated the Saints — sophomore defenseman Elliott Groenewold’s shot from the blue line was tipped in the crease by junior forward Andon Cerbone, doubling the lead.
After successfully killing off a tripping penalty called on freshman forward Matthew Lansing, the Bobcat special teams would get a second opportunity to shine before the period ended.
Once again, throwing pucks on net from far range proved effective against the St. Lawrence defense. Vidicek’s second point of the night put the puck behind junior goaltender Cameron Smith. Sophomore forward Chris Pelosi would punch the puck in for the power-play goal.
Quinnipiac continued its scoring in the second, with another pair of goals from Pelosi and Cerbone chasing Smith from the net with eight minutes remaining in the second period.
Even down five goals, the Saints continued to scrap to get back into the contest, culminating in a scrum in the closing seconds of the period. Once the pushing and shoving ended and the refs cleared the scuffle, a game misconduct on senior defenseman Isack Bandu for hitting from behind put the Bobcats on the man-advantage going into the final frame.
Although Quinnipiac would fail to convert on the five-minute major, the tone was set. The Bobcats maintained possession for the remainder of the period. After failing to score on Smith’s relief in the second, the Bobcats would continue the offensive onslaught on junior goaltender Mason Kucenski.
Freshman forward Antonin Verrault corralled the puck in the slot to finally beat Kucenski, scoring stick side to put the Bobcats up 6-0 with less than five minutes remaining.
Freshman defenseman Nate Tivey would cap off the Bobcat scoring for the night to complete the dominant 7-0 victory.
The win marked the second-largest victory for Quinnipiac of the season, and its first shutout in ECAC play.
Quinnipiac looks to continue its winning ways in its second contest of the weekend, taking on the Clarkson Golden Knights on Saturday, Jan. 31. Puck drop from Potsdam, N.Y. is set for 7 p.m.
