The Quinnipiac Bobcats used a strong second period, along with great goaltending by Yaniv Perets, to beat the Union Dutchmen 2-1 at the People’s United Center on Friday night.

This was the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The first game was on Dec. 4, and resulted in a 4-0 Bobcats victory. That victory helped prepare Quinnipiac captain Wyatt Bongiovanni for Friday night’s contest.

“Myself, along with a lot of the guys, rewatched the game from earlier in the year,” Bongiovanni said. “There’s a lot you can take away – their forecheck and some of their systems… that’s typically how we prepare.”

Bongiovanni took advantage of a Bobcats power play, getting set up by Zach Metsa and Brendan Less for a one-timer that went past Union goalie Connor Murphy to get Quinnipiac on the board in the second period.

That goal tied the game, as back in the first period Union senior Josh Kosack tipped in a puck that was mishandled by Perets as he tried passing it out of the crease. That was the only goal Perets let up, as he had 26 saves on the night, including some clutch saves in the third period, and he got his 14th win of the season. 

Bongiovanni’s goal with 10:41 remaining in the second period tied the game, and then the Bobcats scored again just a couple minutes later. A faceoff in Union’s zone was won by Quinnipiac senior TJ Friedmann, who set up Metsa for a slapshot that deflected off junior Ethan Leyh’s stick and went into the net. Leyh scored what ended up being the game winner for the Bobcats.

“I was just able to walk around the top, Metsa shot a good puck through, and I was lucky enough to get a piece of it,” Leyh said.

The Bobcats held on for the 2-1 victory, and are now 18-0-0 when leading after the second period this season.

Although Quinnipiac got the win, Union did a great job competing throughout the entire game, especially on the defensive end. The Dutchmen had 11 blocked shots and Murphy had 29 saves in the close contest. Bobcats head coach Rand Pecknold commended Union’s defense.

“(Murphy) was great,” Pecknold said. “I thought he played great. They did a good job of battling in front of the net too.”

Despite getting the win Friday and being ranked No. 2 in the nation in the USCHO Poll after winning the Connecticut Ice Tournament, Pecknold was upset with his team’s performance against Union.

“I wasn’t happy with our effort tonight,” Pecknold said. “I thought we were sloppy. Poor details, bad penalties. I’d actually go as far as I was embarrassed by how we played tonight.”

Pecknold expected better play against a Union team that entered Friday’s matchup at 9-13-3 and a Union team the Bobcats beat with ease in their first matchup.

“That’s not the team that we’ve had all year,” Pecknold said. “I don’t know where it came from, but we gotta find a way to get back to where we were.”

The Bobcats will have a chance to get back to where they were on Saturday, Feb. 5 against another team they’ve already beaten this season, RPI. Quinnipiac beat RPI 2-0 on Dec. 3, a day before it beat Union. The rematch Saturday is at 7 p.m. in Hamden.