Hamden, CT- The college hockey weekend ended with a stormy Sunday in southern Connecticut. Vermont traveled looking for an upset over Quinnipiac. In a rather chippy game, the Bobcats stopped the Catamount offense at every turn and beat their world class goaltender.
Senior Stefanos Lekkas entered Sunday with a .950 save percentage and 1.50 goals against average, both among the nation’s best. He ultimately performed well again against the Bobcats with 34 saves on 38 shots faced. The Quinnipiac goals were a combination of breakaways and fortunate bounces.
Nick Jermain opened the scoring with a beautiful breakaway and a backhanded roofer. Ethan de Jong extended the lead in the first period in the first with a tap in off a scramble in front. Wyatt Bongiovanni netted his team leading fourth goal in the second. Joe O’Connor ended the scoring in the third on a breakaway. The Hamden native’s goal incited trash talk and jawing between him and Vermont’s entire team, seemingly. “I was committed there for a few years before I found Quinnipiac. So there’s some bad blood between me and them.”
The teams combined for eleven penalties. Both squads had 5on3 power plays. Matt Alvaro also took a major penalty late in the third. Neither team scored on the man advantage and QU wrapped up a 4-0 victory.
UVM sits at 1-3-0. The Catamounts return to Burlington next weekend to face the UMass Lowell Riverhawks in a weekend series. Puck drops at 7:05 pm ET at Gutterson Fieldhouse on both Friday and Saturday.
Quinnipiac improves to 4-1-0. “It was a good win today,” said QU Head Coach Rand Pecknold. Regarding his forward depth, with four different goal scorers, Pecknold commented “I’ve been happy with our depth. It’s as good as it’s been the last few years. I think that was a problem for us last season and I think we’ve rectified that.”
Keith Petruzzelli recorded a 21 save shutout, his first of the season and fourth of his collegiate career.
The Bobcats begin November with a trip to Tempe, AZ, to face the Arizona State Sun Devils in a rematch of their NCAA Tournament game last season. Puck drops at the Oceanside Ice Arena at 9pm ET, 7pm MT on both a Friday and Saturday night.
