Dan Ennis’ goal with 7:53 remaining in regulation proved to be the game winner, as Quinnipiac defeated Sacred Heart, 4-3, on Friday night at the Northford Ice Pavilion.
The play started with a solid hit from Neil Breen behind the Pioneers cage. Breen fed the puck to Ennis, who wristed a shot over the glove of Eddy Ferhi for the one-goal lead. Ryan Morton also assisted on the marker.
From there, Quinnipiac held on for its sixth win in seven games and extended its unbeaten streak over Sacred Heart to 14 games (12-0-2). Quinnipiac (13-11-1, 11-5-1 MAAC) moved into sole possession of second place in the MAAC momentarily, as Holy Cross lost to league leader Mercyhurst, 6-3, on Friday night as well. QU and Sacred Heart conclude their two-game weekend series tomorrow night in Milford.
The hosts struck first, as Chris Maniatis notched his second goal in as many games at 3:18 of the first period. He snapped a shot from between the circles that eluded Ferhi, off a pass from Tyler Dufour. Craig Falite also assisted on the goal.
Sacred Heart answered at the 9:36 mark of the opening frame, as Martin Paquet knotted the game at 1-1 with a power-play tally.
The Pioneers took their only lead of the game just 2:44 into the second period. Garrett Larson wristed a shot over the glove of QU goalie Justin Eddy, off a beautiful feed from Chuck Metcalfe in the left wing corner.
Quinnipiac answered less than two minutes later. Brian Herbert won a draw to the right of Ferhi, and got off a quick shot. Ferhi made the original save, but Todd Bennett knocked in the rebound as he crashed the cage.
Another gritty goal put QU ahead early in the third. Wade Winkler’s shot from the point was stopped, but Breen smacked in the rebound for a 3-2 advantage. Herbert was also credited with a helper on the goal.
Sacred Heart responded with the tying goal at 4:14 of the third. A turnover in the Quinnipiac defensive zone resulted in Marc Andre Fournier’s marker that evened the score at 3-3.
That set the stage for Ennis, who tallied his third goal of the season.
Breen finished the night with two points, pushing his career total to 99. Herbert also added two assists to boost his team-leading totals to 22 assists and 30 points.
Eddy won his second straight start in the net, making 33 saves on the evening.
