On a night that began with Quinnipiac University celebrating head coach Rand Pecknold’s 500th win for the program, the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team (23-6-2, 12-5-2 in ECAC Hockey) followed strongly, defeating the Saint Lawrence Saints (4-25-2, 2-15-2 in ECAC Hockey) by a score of 7-2.
The Bobcats took no time to get settled in for this one, tallying three goals in the opening frame. The Saints’ lack of discipline early on did not do them any favors, as all three of those goals were scored with them playing a man down.
Hobey Baker Award hopeful Chase Priskie started off the scoring tear by doing what he has done all season: score power play goals. The senior captain received a pass from Brogan Rafferty in his favorite spot, on the left face-off dot in the offensive zone. Priskie then faked a one-timer, causing the Saint Lawrence defender to fall down, and cut to the middle, firing a wrister over the glove of Saints netminder Emil Zetterquist.
“We were clicking tonight,” Priskie said. “It’s just about coming out and executing, and we practice the power play all the time, but it’s a performance based business. We executed what we needed to do, and it really helped out our team tonight.
Two more power play goals followed for Quinnipiac, as two freshmen in William Fallstrom and Wyatt Bongiovanni buried on the man-advantage.
With this quick start, the Bobcats essentially had the game wrapped up after the opening period, but did by no means slow down. They carried that momentum from the first into the second, coming out buzzing and being rewarded with two more goals to cushion their lead even more. Wyatt Bongiovanni completed the first hat trick of his young college career, finishing off two excellent passing sequences, one of which was on the power play. Bongiovanni felt as though his pre-game mindset was critical to the strong performance tonight.
“Before the game, I made a point to really clear my mind and play free,” Bongiovanni said. “I have a positive spirit, and I think that helped a lot in preparation for tonight.”
Head coach Rand Pecknold also had high praise for Bongiovanni, but not just for his play on offense.
“Wyatt’s been great and has become a much better defensive player,” Pecknold said. “We always knew he could score goals, but we’re working on little things like penalty kill and power play. He’s been a nice fit for us.”
Going into the third period up 5-0, the final twenty consisted of four goals, two from each team. The bottom six forwards got plenty of ice time in the final period, and cashed in on this opportunity. Both Nick Jermain and Scott Davidson buried goals, demonstrating once again how deep this team has been in the scoring department.
The Bobcats will go to work for a much tougher test on Saturday against the No. 13 Clarkson Golden Knights. Puck drop will once again be at 7:00 P.M at the Frank Perotti Jr. Arena, as Quinnipiac will look to finish this already impressive regular season off strong in their last regular season home game.
