Forward Wyatt Bongiovanni’s ECAC-leading 14th goal of the season helped the Bobcats show their claws on Tuesday night en route to a 4-1 victory against Brown at the People’s United Center. 

After two nail-biters this past weekend against Union and RPI, Quinnipiac wanted to come out much stronger against Brown. Two goals scored just 15 seconds apart and a total of 15 shots in the first period helped the Bobcats secure the game right from the jump. 

Head coach Rand Pecknold was impressed by his group’s effort, especially given the amount of games they’ve played as of late. 

“(The) guys were into it tonight,” Pecknold said. “I thought we prepared well for the game, I thought we had a lot of energy tonight. We’ve been playing a lot of games lately and our energy level has dropped a little bit so I thought the guys really reloaded well and I thought we had good legs.”

Bongiovanni’s 14th goal of the season got Quinnipiac out to a 1-0 lead 9:51 into the game. Bongiovanni led the team with five shots on goal in the contest, and he now leads the conference in goals scored. However, the Bobcats captain isn’t focused on that statistic.

“It doesn’t really matter to me at all,” Bongiovanni said. “I’m focused on playing as a team and being able to win hockey games as a team. I think once you lose track of that your overall play takes a big hit.” 

Just 15 seconds later, junior forward Joey Cipollone converted on a wide open scoring chance in front of the net to make it 2-0. Cipollone’s first-period tally marked his first goal since his multi-goal game against Sacred Heart in the Connecticut Ice Tournament on Jan. 29.

The Bobcats used strong backchecking and got sticks into passing lanes, which kept the Bears in check as they were only able to fire four shots on net in the opening frame. 

Quinnipiac carried its relentless pressure into the second period with two goals, both scored by seniors.

Ethan De Jong scored a key goal for Quinnipiac, showing Brown that it was not going to sit back while up 2-0. De Jong drove hard to the net to bury a rebound generated by his own shot that was initially saved by Brown goaltender Mathieu Caron. 

13:26 into the middle period, nearly six minutes after De Jong’s tally, Michael Lombardi walked in from the blue line to fire home a wrister that increased Quinnipiac’s lead to 4-0.

Bongiovanni assisted on the third and fourth goal for the Bobcats, giving him a three-point night and his third multi-assist game of the season. 

61 seconds later, Brown found its way onto the scoresheet when Bears leading scorer Justin Jallen scored his seventh of the year to make it 4-1.

Quinnipiac goalie Yaniv Perets was his steady self as the game reached the finish line, making a grand total of 17 saves to secure his 16th win of the season. 

With a four game road trip on the horizon, Bongiovanni knows how important this win was for the Bobcats.

“It just builds momentum,” Bongiovanni said. “It’s that snowball effect and you keep the ball rolling. You can build off games like this. Getting one on the power play, the little things like that help us get confidence.”

Quinnipiac’s next game is a trip to Canton, New York on Friday, Feb. 11 against a St. Lawrence team who has struggled with a 2-8-2 record at home. The Bobcats are 8-1-1 on the road this year.