Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you just don’t have it. On Saturday night, the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team fit the last of those three descriptions. The Bobcats (6-1-0, 1-1-0 ECAC) looked like a shell of their former selves against Dartmouth (2-1-0, 2-1-0 ECAC) in a 5-1 Big Green beatdown.
“If (our team) is going to be successful, they’ve got to compete every game,” said Bobcats head coach Rand Pecknold after the game. “We had low energy, low compete, not a lot of care.”
Pecknold’s squad especially showed a lack of care in the first period. Quinnipiac was sloppy all period long with countless turnovers, many of which were in their own zone. Although they didn’t have any goals to show for it, Dartmouth dominated play. They had possession of the puck and control of the game for the entire frame. Chance after chance came the Big Green’s way, but they couldn’t convert, and the Bobcats went into the second period with new life due to the deadlock. That new life didn’t last very long.
The second period felt like a 20-minute power play for Dartmouth. The Big Green delivered an offensive onslaught with 3 goals, and their confidence never wavered. Dartmouth’s Drew O’Connor got the scoring started for his team, as Jeff Losurdo got him the puck on an odd-man rush. One good backhand-to-forehand deke later, it was 1-0 Dartmouth. From there, the floodgates opened.
Just under two minutes after the first strike, Quin Foreman delivered a power play goal to spot his team a 2-0 lead. After that, Quinnipiac took two more penalties to hand the Big Green a two-man advantage, and their work with an extra attacker was once again dominant. Collin Rutherford made it 3-0 by doing exactly what you’re supposed to do on a 5-on-3: find the open spot, stay there, then blast home an open shot. Quinnipiac goalie Keith Petruzzelli had no chance on this one, as he couldn’t dive across the crease in time to stop Rutherford’s ripper. After two, Dartmouth maintained that three goal lead.
Quinnipiac was able to find a little bit of momentum early in the third, courtesy of their captain. Chase Priskie put home a power play goal about three minutes into the period thanks to some tic-tac-toe passing from Brogan Rafferty to Odeen Tufto to Priskie, who sniped his team-leading sixth goal into the left corner of the net. However, that momentum was cut short.
Dartmouth responded a little less than three minutes after conceding their first goal in the form of Jeff Losurdo. On a 4-on-4, Losurdo was left all alone in front of the net, and it was an easy snipe past Petruzzelli for his first collegiate goal, giving the Big Green a 4-1 lead.
About five minutes later, Quinnipiac earned a power play. In an unusual decision, Pecknold pulled Petruzzelli. The move backfired. Just seconds into the penalty kill, Carl Hesler unloaded a long shot down ice, and it found its way into the back of the net to make it a 5-1 game. From there, the Big Green cruised to victory by that same score. Pecknold struggled to find any bright spots in his team’s performance.
“That’d be a tough one,” Pecknold said when asked if he could find a positive from the game. “We’ll learn from it… we need to battle, and that’s what we’re good at.”
Quinnipiac will look to rebound on Friday when they host RPI at 7:00 p.m. As for Dartmouth, they’ll look to keep the offense clicking when they travel to Brown on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
“If (our team) is going to be successful, they’ve got to compete every game,” said Bobcats head coach Rand Pecknold after the game. “We had low energy, low compete, not a lot of care.”
Pecknold’s squad especially showed a lack of care in the first period. Quinnipiac was sloppy all period long with countless turnovers, many of which were in their own zone. Although they didn’t have any goals to show for it, Dartmouth dominated play. They had possession of the puck and control of the game for the entire frame. Chance after chance came the Big Green’s way, but they couldn’t convert, and the Bobcats went into the second period with new life due to the deadlock. That new life didn’t last very long.
The second period felt like a 20-minute power play for Dartmouth. The Big Green delivered an offensive onslaught with 3 goals, and their confidence never wavered. Dartmouth’s Drew O’Connor got the scoring started for his team, as Jeff Losurdo got him the puck on an odd-man rush. One good backhand-to-forehand deke later, it was 1-0 Dartmouth. From there, the floodgates opened.
Just under two minutes after the first strike, Quin Foreman delivered a power play goal to spot his team a 2-0 lead. After that, Quinnipiac took two more penalties to hand the Big Green a two-man advantage, and their work with an extra attacker was once again dominant. Collin Rutherford made it 3-0 by doing exactly what you’re supposed to do on a 5-on-3: find the open spot, stay there, then blast home an open shot. Quinnipiac goalie Keith Petruzzelli had no chance on this one, as he couldn’t dive across the crease in time to stop Rutherford’s ripper. After two, Dartmouth maintained that three goal lead.
Quinnipiac was able to find a little bit of momentum early in the third, courtesy of their captain. Chase Priskie put home a power play goal about three minutes into the period thanks to some tic-tac-toe passing from Brogan Rafferty to Odeen Tufto to Priskie, who sniped his team-leading sixth goal into the left corner of the net. However, that momentum was cut short.
Dartmouth responded a little less than three minutes after conceding their first goal in the form of Jeff Losurdo. On a 4-on-4, Losurdo was left all alone in front of the net, and it was an easy snipe past Petruzzelli for his first collegiate goal, giving the Big Green a 4-1 lead.
About five minutes later, Quinnipiac earned a power play. In an unusual decision, Pecknold pulled Petruzzelli. The move backfired. Just seconds into the penalty kill, Carl Hesler unloaded a long shot down ice, and it found its way into the back of the net to make it a 5-1 game. From there, the Big Green cruised to victory by that same score. Pecknold struggled to find any bright spots in his team’s performance.
“That’d be a tough one,” Pecknold said when asked if he could find a positive from the game. “We’ll learn from it… we need to battle, and that’s what we’re good at.”
Quinnipiac will look to rebound on Friday when they host RPI at 7:00 p.m. As for Dartmouth, they’ll look to keep the offense clicking when they travel to Brown on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
