By Kenisha McFadden, QBSN Staff Writer
After a victory against University of Maine, the Quinnipiac men’s hockey team was back at the TD Center for an exhibition game against the Acadia Axemen. Despite the win to open regular season play, the Bobcats’ momentum fell short, and Acadia walked away with the 2-0 victory.
Early in the first period Acadia’s Alex Beaton rang one off the post after a scramble in front of the net. After that it was a back and forth game with a little stoppage in play.
Freshman Zach Luczyk saw some power play ice time on Quinnipiac’s first man advantage of the game. The game remained scoreless through the Bobcats’ second and third power plays. The Axemen goalie, Evan Mosher, saw some five-hole trouble late in the first period, but the Bobcats failed to take advantage. The period ended with Acadia leading in shots, 10-5.
Quinnipiac started the second period with a 5-on-3-man advantage but could not convert. The only highlight of that lengthy power play was Kellen Jones (Montrose, British Columbia) shooting one right off the post. The biggest opportunity for Quinnipiac to net a goal came halfway through the period when Zack Luczyk (Worcester, Mass.) tried sneaking one in between the pipe and toe of Mosher.
Freshman goalie Mike Garteig (Prince George, British Columbia) kept the game tied and made one of the biggest saves of game by extending his pads, blocking a shot off his toe. After the Bobcats could not convert on five separate power plays, freshman Jacob Meyers (Chanhassen, Minn.) came in to replace Garteig. Shortly after that, Acadia forward, Michael Ward, scored an even strength goal.
Late in the second period, Mike Dalhuisen got himself into some trouble in between whistles, which resulted in an ejection from the game. Acadia started the last period with a power play from Dalhuisen’s major penalty. The Axemen had a lot of chances down low in the crease, but Meyers recovered all shots. Short after, Michael Ward scored his second goal of the game on the power play, making the game 2-0 Acadia.
Quinnipiac saw a hard shot from the point by Loren Barron (Glendora, Calif.) that produced a juicy rebound but was shot wide on a power play. This created a lot of momentum for the Bobcats, but it was too late.
Post game, head coach Rand Pecknold commentated on Quinnipiac’s play. He talked about not being worried about the power play due to some of the veterans not dressing.
“We struggled for 60 minutes,” Pecknold said.
Quinnipiac next takes on Robert Morris on Saturday, Oct. 13. The puck drops at 4 p.m.
