Quinnipiac Upsets No. 17 Ohio State Again to Complete Sweep

For Quinnipiac junior forward Eric Lampe, the start of the 2009-10 season will be one to remember. Lampe was for the second straight night a dominant force against No. 17 Ohio State in the Bobcats’ 3-1 victory over the Buckeyes Friday night.

Lampe officially had six shots on goal, but most of those were on breakaway opportunities. He followed his two-goal performance on Thursday with a tally and assist in Friday’s game. His goal, the game winner, was scored shorthanded 7:51 into the third period when he received a two-on-one pass from Brandon Wong. Lampe also assisted on Zach Hansen’s goal early in the second period.

“Wong made a nice pass over and it took hard work,” Lampe said.

“We went into the two game set and we just felt we needed to be patient and play great defense and eventually we would get our chances,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “We’ve got some high end players. Lampe does that against everyone. He finds a way to get breakaways and two-on-ones. He has great speed and great anticipation.”

Ohio State took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission powered by 25 shots on goal compared to shots by the Bobcats. Ohio State freshman Alex Carlson, playing in his first collegiate game, scored a goal midway through the first on a rebound off the pads of Dan Clarke from a Mathieu Picard shot. Ohio State played well in the first period despite their top line being benched.

Clarke was stellar from that point on as he was only charged with one goal against on 45 shots fired by Ohio State in the game. His counterpart in goal for the Buckeyes, Cal Heeter, was solid, allowing two goals on 27 shots against.

“I would think putting 25 shots on net would have gotten us two goals, but it is not enough,” Ohio State coach John Markell said. “We created that goal the way we wanted to and we need more out of some of the guys we got playing and it is disappointing that we’re losing the games on bad decisions.”

“The first period was not a good one for us,” Pecknold said. “I thought Ohio State was excellent, and they were playing three lines. He [Markell] had his first line benched. They were just coming, and coming, and coming and we hung in there and we didn’t give up any two-on-ones or breakaways.”

Quinnipiac put the game away with 55 seconds left when Mike Atkinson scored an empty-net goal.

“I think ultimately we played eighteen guys tonight and they all played well,” Pecknold said. “My big thing going into the third period we were going to play to win. And most likely in that situation, I am not sure Ohio State was doing but it seemed like they were playing not to lose. We got after that.”

Ohio State stays home to host a pair of games against No. 1 Denver next weekend. At 0-2, there is no question the Buckeyes will be hungry to rectify their rough series against the Bobcats. Quinnipiac

“I guess we need to lead by example,” Ohio State forward captain Sergio Somma said. “We should be working hard and follow by that example. That is what happened last night, we got outskated.”

Quinnipiac has their home opener against Bentley next Saturday.