The Quinnipiac University men’s ice hockey team claimed its second consecutive Q-Cup and fourth in the six years of the event in front of a sellout crowd at the Northford Ice Pavilion on Saturday night.
Five different players scored for the Braves in a 5-1 victory over American International in the title game. Quinnipiac is now 10-1-1 all-time at its own tournament.
The Braves opened the scoring at 14:58 of the first period on a slap shot by Matt Erhart from the left point that floated through traffic and past AIC goaltender Frank Novello.
QU doubled its lead at the 7:52 mark of the middle frame on Ryan Olson’s third goal of the season. AIC cut the Braves advantage in half at 13:44 of the second period on a tally by Guillame Caron, but freshman Matt Craig restored the Braves two-goal lead at 17:15 of the stanza.
The Braves put the game out of reach in the final period with two unanswered goals. Brian Herbert scored at 14:25 on a shot from the left circle that beat Novello, while freshman Chris Chandler netted his first collegiate tally at 18:38 on another shot from the point.
Olson was named Tournament MVP for his three-goal, one assist outing in two nights. Herbert and Erhart also represented QU on the squad, along with Novello, Bentley’s Steve Tobio and Fairfield’s Tim Desmaris.
Earlier in the day, Fairfield won a 6-5 thriller over Bentley in the consolation game. The Falcons had a 5-2 lead with 8:30 remaining until Andy Peters was issued a five-minute major and game DQ for hitting from behind.
The Stags went on to score four times during that power play — including two goals from Desmaris, one of which was the game-winner — to pull out a dramatic victory.
