The Bobcats defeated the Yale Bulldogs in their first ECAC game of the season, 3-0, in a defensive struggle on Friday night.

The “Battle of Whitney Avenue” was won once again by Quinnipiac, as the Bobcats have now won seven straight games against the Bulldogs dating back to January of 2018.

Quinnipiac went into the David S. Ingalls Rink in New Haven, and its defense played tremendous. The Bobcats did a great job of getting in front of Yale’s shooting lanes, preventing several “would-be” shots on goal. Quinnipiac outnumbered Yale in shots on goal in the game, 37-13. 

The defense was also forced to make two shorthanded stops, both in the second period. One came two minutes into the period, and Yale failed to get a shot on goal. The second power play for Yale came with 2:49 left in the period, and senior Ethan De Jong and the rest of the shorthanded line were aggressive in getting the puck out of the Quinnipiac zone.

The defense was also helped significantly by Quinnipiac first-year goalie Yaniv Perets, who got the shutout Friday night. Perets came into the game ranking inside the top-15 nationally in win percentage, save percentage, and goals against average. He turned away all 13 shots sent his way, and continued the excellent play he’s had this season.

The offense started for Quinnipiac with less than four minutes left in the first period, as forward Joey Cipollone set up defenseman Jayden Lee perfectly, putting it past Yale goalie Nathan Reid for his second goal of the season.

This was Reid’s first ever collegiate start. And he was spectacular.

Going up against the no.6 team in the nation, Reid allowed only one goal through two periods, with 24 saves. He finished the game with 34 saves out of 36 shots on goal against him.

The other goal scored off Reid was right off a faceoff only a minute into the third period. Captain Wyatt Bongiovanni won the faceoff in the Yale zone, and De Jong shot it right past Reid to make it 2-0 Bobcats.

The last goal was an empty netter scored by senior TJ Friedmann with less than a minute to go in the game. 

That wrapped up the 3-0 victory for the Bobcats. They’re now 6-1-2 on the season, and Yale falls to 0-2 overall.

One thing the Bobcats could improve on is their power play. While going 2/2 on the penalty kill, Quinnipiac went 0/4 on the power play Friday night. Head coach Rand Pecknold’s team needs to improve in that area moving forward.

The Bobcats will now travel to Rhode Island to take on the Brown Bears on Saturday.