The Quinnipiac University Bobcats (15-14-0, 6-11-0 ECACHL) took a 3-1 decision over the No. 18 St. Lawrence Saints (15-12-1, 9-7-0 ECACHL) at Yale’s Ingalls Rink Saturday night.
Quinnipiac picked up where it left off after a 6-1 win over Clarkson last night, scoring two first-period goals. Ben Nelson netted his 12th of the season on a rebound attempt. Jamie Bates ripped a shot from the slot that bounced off Saints goaltender John Hallas right to Nelson’s stick for the one goal lead.
“It was a great weekend and a great effort,” said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold.
The Bobcats scored at 16:21 of the first to take a two-goal lead. Brian Leitch snapped a wrist shot from the slot past Hallas. Nelson and Bates assisted on the goal.
St. Lawrence was not going to be shut out in the period though. They cut the deficit in half on Chase Trull’s first goal of the season. TJ Trevelyan made a nifty move to get open in the slot, shot, and had the puck deflected home by Trull past Quinnipiac goaltender Bud Fisher.
There was no scoring in the second period, but both teams came close, hitting the post twice each.
The third period was all St. Lawrence, as it dominated the play from the opening face off. The Saints had 18 shots in the period compared to four from Quinnipiac.
St. Lawrence’s best chance came in a five-minute span of the third when it had four minutes worth of power-play time, but could not capitalize and finish for the game-tying goal.
“Their [St. Lawrence] confidence was pretty good in the third period, but we got after them pretty good after the first period,” said Pecknold.
Fisher, on his birthday, came up strong in the period, keeping the Bobcats in the lead. The barrage of shots came from Trevelyan and Brock McBride, with each registering four.
Leitch added an empty-net goal to secure the victory for the Bobcats who win their third straight.
Fisher made 31 saves in net for the win while his counterpart, Hallas, made 20 in the loss.
The Bobcats will travel to Dartmouth on Friday, while St. Lawrence hosts Colgate.
