The No. 7 Quinnipiac Bobcats faced off against No. 14 Dartmouth Saturday with the ECAC regular season title on the line, which the Bobcats have won five years running. After a back and forth battle, the Big Green were able to finish the game strong, beating the Bobcats 7-4.
Dartmouth got off to a quick start as senior forward Alex Krause made a pass from the right wing to the slot where freshman forward Nathan Morin had a shot saved by junior goaltender Matej Marinov.
The puck found Krause again, where he made no mistake putting the Big Green up, only two minutes in.
Quinnipiac struggled for most of the first period against Dartmouth’s physicality, not being able to connect in the neutral zone and turning the puck over frequently.
Sophomore forward Jack Silverberg and freshman forward Ryan Schelling both tested Marinov as he made two glove saves keeping the Bobcats in the early fight.
Quinnipiac started to see offensive promise with two-on-ones featuring freshman forward Ethan Wyttenbach but wasn’t able to level the game.
With 5:30 left in the first period, senior defenseman Charlie Leddy played a splitting pass from the blue line to freshman forward Antonin Verrault where he buried the puck tying the game for the Bobcats.
As the period wound down, sophomore forward Chris Pelosi was able to tame a bouncing puck as he chipped it over junior goaltender Emmit Croteau putting the Bobcats up 2-1 going into the first intermission.
The second period played similar to the first with Dartmouth on the front foot, however the Big Green were not able to score again as Quinnipiac was prepared for the high pressure.
With the period winding down sophomore forward Hayden Stavroff put one away for Dartmouth, leveling the game.
The Bobcats weren’t done in the second however, as Wyttenbach maintained control of the puck down the left wing and scored a gritty backhand goal over the right shoulder of Croteau maintaining their one goal lead heading into the third period.
The goal also made the Hobey Baker nominee the freshman single-season scoring record holder in Quinnipiac’s Division I hockey history with 55 points.
For a change of pace, Quinnipiac was the one who started the third period on the front foot as Croteau was peppered with shots in the first few minutes of the period but stood tall.
With 16 minutes to go, Dartmouth won a faceoff in the offensive end as sophomore defenseman Tim Busconi fired a shot into traffic in front of the goal. The puck fell for junior forward Nikita Nikora who made no mistake getting past Marinov as the Big Green tied the game.
Only a minute later Quinnipiac found themselves defending a two-on-one as Morin fired a shot as his stick broke squandering a golden chance. Quinnipiac failed to clear behind the net as sophomore defenseman Colin Grable found sophomore forward Joshua Schenk to restore the Dartmouth lead.
With 11 minutes to go, freshman forward Andrew Clarke sniped the top left over Marinov after Quinnipiac couldn’t clear from behind the net.
After starting the period on the front foot, Quinnipiac had put the regular season title in the air. With a Dartmouth win on Sunday and a Quinnipiac loss, Dartmouth will be the regular-season winners for the first time in two decades.
A minute after the fifth Dartmouth goal, the Big Green defense began to crumple under Quinnipiac’s pressure, leaving Leddy at the point, finding Wyttenbach alone with an open net and cutting Dartmouth’s lead to one.
Quinnipiac was able to retain the puck, applying pressure as an equalizer seemed imminent.
A cross-checking penalty on Stavroff with five minutes to go, and Marinov on the bench gave Quinnipiac a two-man advantage.
Silverberg found himself eating a Wyttenbach shot and finding the empty net twice as the game finished 7-4 in Dartmouth’s favor.
Quinnipiac will finish its regular season Saturday evening against Harvard, with a win securing an ECAC title.
