The Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team came away with a win, in a game that the opposing coach described as a “butt kicking,” as the Bobcats trounced the Arizona State Sun Devils 5-0 Thursday night.
Arizona State (1-2-0) is in its inaugural season as a Division I program after over 20 years as an American Collegiate Hockey Association club team. Quinnipiac was the team’s first stop on an east coast swing, which includes games against UConn and Sacred Heart in the coming days.
To head coach Greg Powers, 2014 ACHA National Coach of the Year, the loss was to be expected for his inexperienced team.
“We aren’t good enough to get out-competed like we just did. They beat us to every loose puck, they won every puck battle,” Powers said. “We have to be hard to play against. Tonight, nothing about what we did or the mindset that we came in with was difficult to play against. Nothing.”
But Thomas Aldworth, who put up two goals and six shots, saw the golden opportunity as more than lighting the lamp for the Bobcats.
“It’s always nice to see the game expanding” he said. “I experienced it myself when the Dallas Stars won the Cup in ’99, just hockey started booming around. I assume hockey in Arizona will grow because of this Division I program now. Usually the guys in the south don’t get the reputation for being hockey hotbeds like places in the northeast and Minnesota.”
The Bobcats racked up 52 shots against the Sun Devils’ freshman goaltender Ryland Pashovitz.
“We were under siege, and to put a guy in cold, when a team is playing that way,” said Powers. “We wanted to win a period and [Pashovitz] was keeping us in it.”
On the other end of the ice, Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold was satisfied in the complete game put forward by his team, even with the wide lead.
“I thought it was an excellent effort on our part,” he said. “The highlight for me, of tonight’s game, was we’re up 5-0 late in the game and Connor Clifton drops to block that shot. That’s what we want to do, that’s what we need to do. We need to show that kind of character to win hockey games.”
Another shining spot for the Bobcats was the persistence and success on the power play, which went two for four on the night and six for 13 through three games so far.
“We had four of those five guys back on the first unit which helps. We’ve gotten goals from the second unit, which is good,” Pecknold said. “I think if you’re going to have a good power play, you have to have two power play units [and] we have the talent to spread it over two units.”
It’s a busy week for the Bobcats, who play three games in five days, as they host Maine on Tuesday, and St. Cloud State back-to-back Friday and Saturday.
