In the fourth-annual Connecticut Ice tournament, No. 7 Quinnipiac entered a field consisting of its three in-state rivals: Yale, UConn and Sacred Heart. The tournament, won each of the past two years by the Bobcats, is held to promote and celebrate youth and amateur hockey in the state.
For a spot in the championship game against UConn, Quinnipiac battled Yale Friday night at the XL Center in the state capital. Proving to be the closest match between the two in years, Quinnipiac advanced with a hard-fought 1-0 victory.
In period one, first-year goaltender Jack Stark stole the show for Yale. The Minnesota native and recent ECAC Rookie of the Week allowed only one goal on 17 shots with a couple of impressive saves.
“He was the best player on the ice,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said postgame. “He was great tonight.”
Despite Stark’s strong opening-period performance, Quinnipiac first-year forward Mason Marcellus managed to get the puck in the cage, his tenth of the season. The goal, assisted by Travis Treloar, would go on to stand as the game-winner. Yale failed to get off more than two shots this period, and despite a power-play opportunity, the Bobcat defense held resistant.
After a promising first period, the Bobcats opened up the second period with a 5-on-3 power play, but they were unable to capitalize. This would set a trend for the remainder of the second period, with neither team necessarily able to get much going.
Pecknold spoke on adjustments necessary to match Yale’s strong defense tonight.
“I thought we did it just the whole night, I thought we had a really good game plan, I wish we could have scored a couple more goals, but you know, it’s hockey.”
Yale did seem to figure out their offensive woes, and with visible game plan changes from 18th-year head coach Keith Allain, the ‘home’ Bulldogs seemed to figure things out defensively. Stark continued to serve as a ‘brick wall’ in front of the net — a term Marcellus used to describe Stark post-game.
This is not to say that the middle period was dull, though. Despite nothing being added to the scoreboard, there were quite chaotic moments that energized the rather quiet crowd in Hartford’s XL Center. The puck got behind both Stark and Quinnipiac netminder Vinny Duplessis, respectively, and was mere inches away from the back of the cage, opportunities missed on both sides.
The closest Yale got to erasing their donut was a power-play opportunity resulting from a Christophe Fillion high-sticking penalty, but Pecknold’s defense remained strong. Duplessis lost his stick on multiple occasions, allowing Quinnipiac’s defense to step up in support of him. An unexpected bump in the road for the senior goaltender, but with 14 saves on the night, Duplessis earned the shutout.
Of his 14 saves, 10 came in the second period, by far Yale’s best 20 minutes of offensive pressure throughout the night.
The third period was especially uneventful in terms of a Quinnipiac-Yale contest. The two teams, combined, attempted 10 shots total. Quinnipiac was more or less playing keep-away with the puck, as was the story of the entire game.
Two words to describe both the Bobcats’ and Bulldogs’ performance would be ‘missed opportunities.’
In an attempt to get something going, Allain pulled his young, star goaltender with roughly one minute to go to orchestrate a six-person attack — one the Bobcats shut down to secure their 14th consecutive win against their Whitney Avenue neighbors.
All in all, this game did not bring the fireworks that Bobcat fans have come to expect. Hobey Baker Award watchlist member Collin Graf had an unremarkable game for his standards, blocking two shots and attempting two more. The offense as a whole, remained cool after two consecutive road losses to Colgate and No. 13 Cornell, respectively.
After the game, Pecknold spoke on the importance of the CT Ice tournament in advancing and growing interest in youth hockey statewide.
“I think it’s really important,” Pecknold said. “It’s good to grow the game and grow the game in Connecticut. Not just with the youth hockey kids, but just with all the fans. We’re excited that we’re part of this tournament, and hopefully we keep it rolling for a while.”
The Bobcats now look to get a good night’s sleep and prepare for a UConn team who had a commanding night Friday against Sacred Heart, knocking the Pioneers out 6-2. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. Saturday in Hartford, where the Bobcats will face the Huskies looking to defend their CT Ice tournament crown once again.
