The Quinnipiac Bobcats (4-2-1, 1-0-0 ECAC) defeated the No. 4 Colgate Raiders (6-3-0, 0-1-0 ECAC) 5-0 on Friday in Hamden. It was the first ECAC league game played for both teams. Sophomore Sam Anas had the game’s first two goals in the first period, with one of them coming on the power play. Anas now leads the Bobcats in points after his three point night with 11.
“He [Anas] was the best player on the ice tonight…he makes guys around him better,” Bobcats head coach Rand Pecknold said.
Play got chippy early on after a questionable embellishment call on junior K.J. Tiefenwerth and then a hit from behind from freshman Andrew Taverner soon after.
The Bobcats outshot the Raiders 15-3 in the second period, despite only converting one of those shots into a goal. Junior Soren Jonzzon added his second goal in as many games about midway through the second period.
After things seemed to have settled down, sophomore Brayden Sherbinin sent a Raider flying into the boards and got called for boarding, reigniting the chippiness in the Raiders. In total, 21 different penalties were called in the game between the two teams.
In the third period, Anas sent a home-run-pass to freshman Landon Smith that beat four Raiders, and Smith, all alone on Raider goaltender Charlie Finn, flicked a wrist shot under Finn’s blocker for his 5th goal of the season. Sophomore Tim Clifton, who assisted on Anas’ first goal, added a goal about a minute later, chasing the sophomore goaltender from the game. Tiefenwerth assisted on Clifton’s goal, as well as Anas’ first goal.
Junior goaltender Michael Garteig made 19 saves for the Bobcats for his first shutout of the season.
The Bobcats went 1-5 on the power play, while the Raiders were 0-4.
“Tonight was one of the closest we played to playing a full 60 minutes,” Anas said. “Getting those two points in the ECAC is all that matters, they’re huge for us.”
“I thought our guys played hard tonight. Colgate is a really good hockey team, they’re number four in the country for a reason, so we feel very fortunate to play as well as we did tonight and get out of here with a win,” Pecknold said. “Our intensity was much more consistent.”
The Bobcats will look to build on this win when they welcome the Big Red of Cornell to Hamden. Colgate will travel to take on Princeton in Princeton on Saturday.
“We have got to come out harder…it’s a brand new game tomorrow, start 0-0,” Smith said.
