The Quinnipiac Bobcats (0-1-1 overall, 0-0 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference) look to bounce back after their loss last Sunday to No. 2 ranked Boston University, as they welcome the University of Vermont (1-1-0 overall, 0-0 Hockey East) to town for Parents’ Weekend.
The Bobcats are looking for their first win this season and will look to do so behind sophomore forward Alex Whelan, who has tallied two goals in the first two goals this season. Whelan has scored a goal in six of the last nine games he has played in, dating back to last season. He leads the team this season in shots with nine, and recorded four shots in the loss on Sunday.
A big question mark for the third straight game will be who is going to get the start between the pipes. Sophomore Andrew Shortridge stated last Friday against Boston College, where he tallied 25 saves in a 1-1 tie at the Conte Forum. Keith Petruzzelli, the Detroit Red Wings 3rd round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, made his first collegiate start Sunday against the Terriers. While he did get the loss, Petruzzelli looked really strong denying high quality scoring opportunities from some of the best players in college hockey.
The Catamounts enter play on Saturday coming off a split weekend series with Colorado College. In game one of the weekend, Catamounts goaltender Stefanos Lekkas recorded 33 saves in a 3-0 shutout, along with goals by Owen Grant, Christan Evers, and Ross Colton. Vermont was a very solid 2-for-4 on power play opportunities, and has been one of the team’s strengths, as they have found the back of the net 33 percent of the time they get a man advantage. The Catamounts dropped game two 4-3, with Sophomore forward Ross Colton scoring a hat trick.
The Bobcats have to handle another red-hot scorer. Last weekend, it was Patrick Harper of Boston University. This weekend, the Bobcats have to try and control the hot stick of Catamounts’ forward Ross Colton. Colton, a 4th round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, has four goals in two games this season, including a hat trick. He has continued his scoring ways from last season when he led the team in goals (12) as a freshman. Colton scored two goals against the Bobcats last season when the two teams met in Belfast, Northern Ireland for the Friendship Four.
Bobcats head coach Rand Pecknold took a lot of positives out of last weekend, even though the results may not have been exactly what he wanted.
“I thought our guys competed hard, we battled. Its early in the season, we’ve got some things that we need to clean up, but there’s a lot of positives.”
Tune into the live broadcast with MJ Baird and Steven Pappas from the TD Bank Sports Center at 4 p.m. Follow @QBSN on Twitter for live updates throughout the game.
