The No. 4/5 Quinnipiac men’s hockey team used a 4-1 victory on Saturday night to complete a sweep of the weekend home-and-home series with Princeton.

Sophomore goaltender Yaniv Perets was massive tonight for the Bobcats, saving 31 of the 32 shots he faced. Perets’ impact was felt from the opening minutes, as a diving blocker save just five minutes in on a shot by freshman forward Brendan Gorman set the tone for a dominant performance by one of the nation’s top goaltenders. 

“Yaniv was our best player tonight, he was outstanding, we gave up a lot of chances tonight, more than we like, he bailed us out over and over again,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. 

The Bobcats got their best opportunity of the first period when Princeton’s junior forward Adam Robbins was sent to the box for hooking.

Quinnipiac didn’t waste that opportunity as senior defender Jayden Lee fired a shot, deflecting off a Princeton defender and past sophomore goalie Ethan Pearson for a 1-0 Bobcat lead. 

“It gives us a diverse attack, the other team can’t just scout our forwards, they have to be aware of our defenseman,” Lee said. “They’ve gotta be aware of Metsa and everyone else, it adds a lot to our game, make us more diverse.”

Despite Lee taking advantage of Robbins’ hooking penalty, it seemed like Robbins didn’t learn his lesson. He was called for another penalty, albeit a tripping penalty this time, just a couple minutes later, sending the Bobcats back on the power play. 

However, this time Quinnipiac couldn’t take advantage. Freshman forward Sam Lipkin picked up a hooking penalty of his own while the Bobcats were on the power play, taking away their man advantage.

After four-on-four action ended, the Tigers had a couple of excellent opportunities to tie the game, but Perets dealt with all of them. 

Princeton continued to push for an answer to the Quinnipiac lead in the second period, but Perets was there, again, to shut them down. 

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It’s not clear exactly how Perets was able to see this puck to make the save, but it is clear that it’s a massive luxury to have him between the posts. 

Graduate student forward TJ Friedmann forced a turnover on the defensive before flying down the left side with the puck on his stick, creating a two-on-one advantage for Quinnipiac. Friedmann slotted a pass right under the slide of a Princeton defender to sophomore forward Jacob Quillan, who sent a one-timer past the dive of Pearson for his sixth goal of the season and a 2-0 Quinnipiac lead. 

During the second period, the men’s hockey team took a minute to applaud the Quinnipiac volleyball team, who had just won the MAAC championship earlier in the day. The championship concluded a phenomenal fall season from Quinnipiac athletics that also included MAAC championships from men’s and women’s soccer, as well as women’s cross country. 

“I think the school’s rolling right now, which is great,” Pecknold said. “It’s nice when the school’s successful in general, it helps everyone.”

Graduate student defender Jake Johnson added onto the Quinnipiac lead, ringing a shot off the right post before finding the back of the net. The goal, Johnson’s first as a Bobcat, pushed the lead to three. 

Quinnipiac’s defense held strong until the final two minutes. Junior forward Nick Seitz got control of the puck that was stuck in a scrum, skated towards the open ice in the middle of the Bobcat defensive zone, and fired a shot that sneaked past Perets, cutting the Bobcat lead to two. 

The Bobcats responded immediately. An empty-netter from graduate student forward Michael Lombardi with 1:40 remaining buried the Tigers for good. 

The victory pushed Quinnipiac’s win streak to seven games as they improved to 9-1-2 and 6-0 in ECAC play. 

The Bobcats will now head overseas to Ireland to play in the Friendship Four tournament featuring Dartmouth, No. 13/14 UMass Lowell and No. 15/16 UMass.

“We got three really good opponents over there, so we’ll be excited to play them,” Pecknold said.

Quinnipiac will begin their Ireland experience when they face off with Dartmouth on Nov. 25.