The Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team suffered their second straight defeat, this time losing to the Harvard Crimson 3-0. With this loss, the Bobcats fall to 0-2 in ECAC play for the first time since 2017.
From the opening puck drop, Harvard forchecked heavily and prevented the Bobcats from starting attacks. They brought physicality which ultimately proved to be too much for the Bobcats.
“I thought Harvard was really good tonight, they played really well. [Koskenkovo] was great and made saves,” said head coach Rand Pecknold, “[Bobcats goaltender Matej Marinov] made some saves for us too, but we’re struggling a bit right now, confidence wasn’t there, it was a frustrating weekend.”
A key to Harvard’s victory tonight was the power play. They were 2-4 on the man advantage, whereas Quinnipiac’s 7th-ranked power play went 0-4 on the night.
“We had some pretty good looks, some pretty good chances, and we just didn’t finish.” Pecknold said.
During Harvard’s first power play, first-year forward Mick Thompson took a shot that Marinov saved. However, sophomore forward Ben McDonald capitalized on the loose puck, giving the Crimson an early 1-0 lead.
In the second period, both teams were battling in the neutral zone, trying to gain an edge, but Quinnipiac graduate defenseman Cooper Moore took a tripping penalty that put Harvard back on the power play. The Crimson capitalized on this opportunity with well-worked puck movement which then led to a goal by first-year defenseman Lucas St. Louis
Harvard junior goaltender Aku Koskenvuo stayed strong in net tonight, making 25 saves to back up a strong Crimson attack, including making a save on a 2-on-0 breakaway, ending the Bobcats’ hope of a comeback.
From there, Harvard continued to close space and defend hard, causing the Bobcats to make some uncharacteristic mistakes.
With about 3 minutes to go in regulation, Marinov was pulled, allowing the Bobcats to bring an extra skater onto the ice. Quinnipiac was unable to break through, and eventually, Justin Solovey scored an empty net goal to seal it for Harvard
Although the Bobcats lost both matchups over the weekend, Pecknold still sees some positives from this slate.
“I thought some of our best players were our first years, and that’s good, but we just need to get the older guys back on track,” Pecknold said.
The ECAC is widely regarded as one of the toughest conferences in college hockey, as the depth of this conference forces the Bobcats to bring it every single night, and Pecknold realizes this.
“We hadn’t lost to Dartmouth in 14 years at home, until last night, and we haven’t lost to Harvard for a while at home either, but that’s something we’re going to face, so we need to match that passion,” Pecknold said.
Quinnipiac has an opportunity to bounce back in ECAC play when they take on the Brown Bears in Providence, Rhode Island on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
