The No. 5/7 Quinnipiac Bobcats lost to the Union College Dutchmen 5-2 on Saturday night at the High Point Solutions Arena.

On the stat sheet, the Bobcats had 52 shots on goal while the Dutchmen only had 12.

“It’s the same kind of story as last night. We put up a lot of shots, and last night the pucks fell in the third period, and this time they didn’t,” assistant captain Tim Clifton said.

The Bobcats struck first when Kevin Duane tipped in a Connor Clifton slap shot with less than four minutes to go in the first period.

In the second period, the Dutchmen responded with three unanswered goals. The first came from defenseman Nick DeSimone less than five minutes into the period. Eight minutes later, defenseman Jeff Taylor gave the Dutchmen the lead and DeSimone scored again to extend their lead to two.

The Bobcats went into the locker room after two periods down by two goals, but were unable to tie the game up in the third period.

Center Cole Maier extended the Dutchmen’s lead to three goals. After Quinnipiac goaltender Chris Treuhl gave up his fourth goal of the game, he was replaced by freshman Andrew Shortridge. Bobcat defenseman Karlis Cukste was able to cut the lead by two goals. Out of desperation, the Bobcats the Bobcats pulled Shortridge out of goal in order to get a man advantage, but were unable to capitalize. Instead, Dutchmen center Mike Vecchione scored from center ice on an empty netter.

The Bobcats may have produced 52 total shots on net, however, it’s all about how many goals a team is able to produce. Even though Union had 12 shots the whole the game, they were able to make the most of their chances and in this case, that’s all it needed to win this game.

“[Union] found a way to win tonight,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said.

Although the Bobcats surrendered five goals on just twelve shots, Truehl and Shortridge only allowed gave up one goal to the Dutchmen first line which is one of the biggest offensive powerhouses in the country. To make things better, that one goal was the empty netter.

“We know they’re the best line in the country,” Clifton said. “We were able to hold them off. Unfortunately, we couldn’t hold anyone else off,”

The Bobcats had plenty of opportunities to capitalize, they were just unable to find the back of the net. Union goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos made 52 saves out of 54 total shots on goal.

“Sakellaropoulos was by far the best player on the ice,” Pecknold said. “Goalies do that once in a while.”

For the second game in a row, the opposing goalie had stopped 45 or more shots on goal.

The Bobcats will now take to the road next weekend as they take on Princeton University on Friday Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.