The Quinnipiac men’s hockey team is once again Connecticut Ice champions as they defeated UConn 4-3 in the championship game at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. With the victory, the Bobcats win their third straight CT Ice championship. 

Although the tournament has only been running for four years, the fans were out in numbers, with an attendance of over 6,000 people for the championship game, providing a vibrant atmosphere from puck drop. At one point down 3-1 in the second period, the Bobcats fought back with three straight goals to keep the trophy in Hamden.

“I thought it was a crazy game, a huge win for us. I thought UConn were really good, their compete level was excellent…I love how we battled back from down 3-1,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said of the victory. “I thought the atmosphere and crowd were great. We take our win and move on.”

There were some nervous jitters for both teams at the beginning of the game but once both teams settled in, the game turned fast-paced and physical with both teams enjoying great scoring chances. UConn graduate defenseman Harrison Rees opened up the scoring, pouncing on a loose puck in the zone and firing a quick wrister past Quinnipiac goaltender, Vinny Duplessis. 

UConn continued to carry their pressure through the end of the first period however, when the second period started, Quinnipiac was able to assert their game plan a bit better, creating some tough net front scrambles.

A mistake handling the puck by UConn goaltender Ethan Haider led to the Quinnipiac equalizer, which was a backhand finish by Quinnipiac first year forward, Mason Marcellus. 

However, 19 seconds after that goal, UConn took the lead right back, after a shorthanded breakaway finish by forward Chase Bradley. Just about two minutes later, the Huskies continued their hot streak, as UConn sophomore forward Tabor Heaslip put on a dazzling move, then fed a cross-crease pass to forward Matthew Wood, who finished off the play.

The crowd turned into a frenzy as it seemed as if the Huskies had taken all the momentum and control of the game and they could almost taste their first CT Ice championship in their program’s history. The Bobcats saw some deja vu, as they were also behind in the 2023 CT Ice championship against UConn in Hamden, but they ended up coming back to win.

The Bobcats stayed poised as sophomore forward Victor Czerneckianair ripped a wrist shot from the middle of the slot past Haider helping the Bobcats cut the lead to only one goal. 

“I thought (Alex Power) and (Anthony Cipollone) did a really good job crashing the net, getting loose pucks, giving it to (CJ Mcgee) who walked the middle and gave me some space,” Czerneckianair said. I just floated one in there, and it went in.”

The Bobcats were not done there, as in that same minute, Quinnipiac captain Jayden Lee fed a pretty no-look pass to a trailing Travis Treloar who finished off the play with a quick one-timer tying the game at three goals a piece.

Just like that, the Bobcats took the reigns back, and if not for a disallowed goal by Cristophe Tellier, the Bobcats could have completed the comeback in that second period alone.

Just 28 seconds into the third period, Quinnipiac grad forward Zach Tupker fired a sudden wrist shot from the right side that seemed to catch Haider off guard.

The hero for the Bobcats tonight was goaltender Duplessis. After a shutout of bitter rival Yale the night before, he backed it up with 28 saves on 31 shots in the championship game. He made a plethora of different saves. With about 10 seconds to go in regulation, UConn, with the extra attacker was desperate for an equalizer to force overtime. The Bobcats were scrambling to keep the puck out of the net, but it was the CT Ice’s Most Outstanding Player, Duplessis who came to the rescue for the Bobcats.

“I was pretty confident in the last couple minutes, I made a lot of saves. I was pretty tight myself, kept my body tight to not let anything in. Our team battled hard, so I wasn’t really worried,” Duplessis said of his performance.

“We had great chances in that (third) period. You got to give credit to Duplessis, he played really well. He shut the door on us in the third. That sometimes happens, that’s hockey,” UConn head coach Mike Cavanaugh said.

After the final saves from Duplessis and the horn sounding, the Bobcats celebrated together in relief and joy. While this certainly is not the national championship that they won last spring, it certainly signals a step in the right direction. 

After the great tradition of the handshake line, Quinnipiac captain Jayden Lee was presented with the trophy and hoisted it high as his teammates gathered around him. The Bobcat faithful watched on as their team was once again on top of Connecticut ice hockey.

The Bobcats will look to ride this wave of momentum into a home meeting with Harvard on Feb. 2. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.