The No. 5 Quinnipiac Bobcats fell to an ECAC opponent, the No. 11 Cornell Big Red 6-1 on Friday night.
Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold kept things brief after his team’s five-goal loss.
“They [Cornell] were the better team tonight and we struggled,” Pecknold said. He would add that the team played “flat” and with “low compete”.
Both teams started slowly, with both teams trading shots on goal but none finding the back of the net. Cornell opened the scoring on an odd-man rush when first-year forward Aiden Long beat Quinnipiac’s junior goalie Dylan Silverstein for a 1-0 lead.
Cornell continued to play suffocating defense throughout the first period, closing up passing lanes and keeping one of the nation’s top scoring offenses at bay. A major part of that was first-year goaltender Alexis Cournoyer.
“Cournoyer was great tonight,” Pecknold stated. “He made some saves. It was a game early on and I would argue that he was the best player on the ice tonight, we’ve got to do a better job of finishing our chances.”
Cornell’s first goal came off the transition, and its second as well, with sophomore defenseman Luke Ashton extending the Big Red’s lead to 2-0.
The contest was tight throughout the first period but the Bobcats would bounce back in the second, off the back of first-year forward Ben Riche’s first career collegiate goal.
“It was a nice goal,” stated Pecknold. “He drove hard to the net, [Brady]Schultz did a nice thing of pulling up, a couple of guys drove… it was a nice goal.”
The Canadian first year had three goal contributions up to this point in the season and is one of seven first years to score a goal for Quinnipiac this season.
Any momentum Quinnipiac built was short-lived. Junior forward Jonathan Castagna and sophomore Charlie Major each scored to push Cornell’s lead to 4-1. Major would also tack on another in the third and Castagna would finish tied for the lead in points for the Big Red with four.
The next 12 minutes of game time, Cornell and Quinnipiac would trade missed scoring chances, and Cornell carried the three-goal advantage into the third period.
The third would be more of the same for the Big Red. Cornell continued to stifle Quinnipiac’s offense, preventing constant pressure in the attacking zone. The Bobcats struggled to generate consistent openings against the Big Red defense.
Despite a physical game, neither team was assessed a penalty, a rare occurrence in hockey.
Even with the lopsided result, Pecknold postgame emphasized where the team fell short tonight.
“We didn’t play with a lot of urgency, a lot of desperation. We’re trying to grind here for a Cleary Cup, we just didn’t grind tonight.”
The Bobcats will look to make a quick turnaround, as they will next hit the ice on Saturday to take on the Colgate Raiders at the M&T Bank Arena to wrap up the penultimate weekend of ECAC play.
