The Quinnipiac Bobcats (24-8-6, 12-6-4 ECAC) defeated the Yale Bulldogs (17-11-5, 10-9-3 ECAC) on Saturday night, winning the ECAC semifinal series 2-0. Quinnipiac advances to the conference semifinals next weekend.

Freshman Sam Anas was thrilled with the result.

“Beating Yale is fun no matter what the circumstances are,” he said. “But in a playoff series and ending their season, I couldn’t be happier right now.”

His two goals, including one three minutes into the game, would help the Bobcats get past Yale.

With a 3-1 lead after the first period it looked like Quinnipiac would defeat Yale handedly. The Bulldogs fought back.

Yale scored two goals in the middle period, including one from a scramble in front of the net. Michael Garteig caught it and tried to hold on. He was pushed back into the net by his own defenseman, Joe Fiala, knocking the puck loose. His inability to fully hold on let Mike Doherty make it 3-2.

Head coach Rand Pecknold acknowledged his team’s lapse in the second.

“I thought the thing we struggled a little bit with in the second, which we’ve had bouts with this year, was we were just a little bit immature,” he said. “Just how we were dealing with things. We lost the composure a little bit.”

The game-winning goal came off the stick of Jordan Samuels Thomas on a power play early in the third. He returned to the lineup this weekend after missing six games with an injury.

Pecknold believed that goal brought the momentum shift the team needed for the rest of the game.

“You go up 4-3 and it was a different game,” Pecknold said. “I thought we played better once we went up 4-3.”

The victory sends Quinnipiac to the ECAC semifinals in Lake Placid, N.Y. next weekend, where it will face Colgate on Friday, March 21. The Bobcats are 1-1-0 against the Red Raiders this season.