On Saturday afternoon, the Quinnipiac Bobcats celebrated Senior Day and celebrated getting a big 19-13 win over the Long Island Sharks.

The Sharks were the ones that came out firing early, however. Just 2:15 into the game, James Butler was able to come from behind the net and buried a low shot to open the scoring.

The Sharks went on to dominate the first quarter as they would hold a 4-2 lead going into the second quarter. 

“I thought early on we were getting the shots we wanted,” said head coach Mason Poli. “We just weren’t hitting the cage and had a few sail on us.”

The second quarter was when the scoring for both teams got started as both teams traded goals until the game was 6-6. The Bobcats were powered by Dylan Donnery and the Sharks by Nick Colantonio.

In the final two minutes of the half, the crowd witnessed an offensive explosion as the Sharks looked like they would hold onto a halftime lead after scoring a pair of goals, but the Bobcats were able to respond just like they had during the quarter and matched both goals which tied the game with 10 seconds remaining in the half.

The score would be 8-8 heading into the half.

The Bobcats came out fighting in the third quarter.

After James Butler got a hat trick goal to start the scoring for the second half, the Bobcats rattled off four straight goals which were capped off by Donnery getting a hat trick of his own to give Quinnipiac a 13-9 advantage. This was a lead that they would never give up. 

“It was more about coming together as a team,” said Ryan Schwender. “There’s more in our tanks, we just gotta  empty them out in the second half and leave nothing out there.”

The Sharks had a bit of an advantage after this Quinnipiac run and went on a run of their own as they cut the deficit to 14-12 heading into the final quarter.

The Bobcats were able to dominate the fourth quarter, outsourcing LIU 5-1 in the quarter. Quinnipiac was led by a pair of Donnery goals giving him five on the day.

Adding to the scoring with hat tricks of their own were Justin Robbert, Steven Germain, and Jake Tellers. This win allowed the Bobcats to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2019.

“The boys have had this goal all year,” said John Delucia. “We had a great day but we can’t be satisfied, the real season is just starting now.”

This concluded the regular season for the Bobcats but after clinching a playoff spot, they will await their opponent for next week.