The No. 2 Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team defeated Clarkson 6-3 in their second ECAC matchup of the two-game homestand this weekend. 

After coming off a win on Friday, the Bobcats were ready to take on the Golden Knights at home Saturday night. 

The Bobcats scored first with an unassisted goal that went straight into the back of the net and was scored by CJ McGee at 9:38 in the first period.

It didn’t take long for Clarkson to respond as Golden Knights forward, Brady Egan shot his first goal of the season right into the back of the net after an assist from Luke Mobley.  

Soon after, Clarkson scored their second goal of the game in a scramble. The goal was made by Clarkson forward Ryan Richardson and was assisted by Tommy Pasanen and Ryan Taylor. The Golden Knights were able to pull ahead and finish the first period 2-1.

“I didn’t like our first,” said head coach Rand Pecknold. “I thought we got bullied a little bit and we really weren’t prepared well but I loved how that kind of challenged them for the second, and our culture came through for the second and third.”

After Clarkson ended the first period with two unanswered goals, the Bobcats tied the game with their second goal shot by Collin Graf and assisted by Jacob Quillan and Sam Lipkin at 5:28 in the second period. 

Immediately after the goal, the Golden Knight’s Tristan Sarsland received a penalty for holding and Quinnipiac received a two-minute power play. This led to a power play goal for the Bobcats which was scored by Jake Johnson and assisted by Jacob Quillan. 

“We pride ourselves on being relentless, playing with pace, and going forward,” said Quillan. “That’s what we wanted to do.”

At 14:48 in the second period, Joey Cipollone poked another goal in with an assist from Michael Lombardi and TJ Friedman. This was Quinnipiac’s third unanswered goal of the second period. At the end of the period, the Bobcats were able to take a 4-2 lead. 

“We were winning battles and we really turned the game at that point on,” Quillan said.

At the beginning of the third period, Quinnipiac started back up again with the scoring. Skyler Brind’Amour scored Quinnipiac’s fourth straight goal after an assist from Jacob Nordqvist. 

The Golden Knights were not ready to back down yet. At 6:08 in the third period, Clarkson scored a powerplay goal by Noah Beck. This cut Quinnipiac’s lead to 4-3. 

The Golden Knight’s effort would not be enough as Quinnipiac would make an empty net goal scored by TJ Friedmann at 19:35 to end the third period. 

“The main goal was to keep the puck out and don’t let them score and I obviously took advantage of the puck and sudden chance,” Friedmann said. 

With this win, the Bobcats improved their record to 12-1-3. 

Quinnipiac will host their next home game against RPI for the first time this season on Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. Clarkson will have their next game at home against Brown on Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.