On Friday evening, the Quinnipiac Bobcats fell to the Dartmouth Big Green by a score of 4-2 in their ECAC home opener.
This was Dartmouth’s first win against Quinnipiac since Nov. 3, 2018, and first win in Hamden since March 6, 2010.
“Congrats to Dartmouth,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “They played hard tonight, and they deserved to win.”
The first period did not see much action as it was an evenly played frame, with just 11 shots, eight to the Bobcats and three to the Big Green..
Dartmouth however had the two best chances in the period. Seven minutes into the game, John Fusco received a pass and came in alone on a breakaway, but went low with his shot and Dylan Silverstein kicked it to the boards.
Later in the period, on a three-on-one odd-man rush, the Big Green’s leading scorer Nikita Nikora received a pass and rifled a shot off the crossbar to no avail.
Things picked up in the second period. Dartmouth opened the scoring just under eight minutes into the period when Jack Silverberg found Alex Krause in space. Krause made no mistake, putting a laser top shelf for the 1-0 lead.
The Big Green extended their lead to 2-0 when on a two-on-one odd-man rush, a broken play led to Nikora dishing a pass off to Sean Chisholm, who, with Silverstein way out of position, nudged the puck a few inches to pick up his second of the season.
The Bobcats responded in the final minute of the period on a power play when Jeremy Wilmer poked a puck in from the doorstep, bringing the Bobcats within a goal heading into the final period.
With four minutes left in the game, Fusco finally got his goal and played hero for the Big Green as his point shot on a power play made its way through a screen and into the back of the net to restore Dartmouth’s lead at 3-2.
Moments after that, CJ Foley put this one on ice, launching a shot from his own defensive zone into the open net, making it a 4-2 game.
The two-goal comeback came up short for the Bobcats despite outshooting the Big Green 20-12. The Bobcats have yet to win a game this season in which they have trailed at some point.
“It’s a great group of guys,” Pecknold continued. “We will buy in at some point.”
The Bobcats will look to pick up their first ECAC win of the season when they take on the Harvard Crimson tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. in Hamden.
