Fresh off an impressive 4-1 victory over UConn, Quinnipiac returned home for a matinee against Atlantic Hockey leader Holy Cross and continued its hot play, taking a 4-2 decision Saturday night over the Crusaders.
Holy Cross (11-7-4, 8-3-3 AHA) got the board at 14:44 of the first on a power-play goal by Tyler McGregor, on a deflection through Bobcat goaltender Jamie Holden’s five-hole.
Quinnipiac (8-10-3, 5-4-2 AHA), meanwhile, came out flat in the first until the Crusaders scored. The Bobcats responded with a goal 23 seconds later, setting the tone for the evening.
“Holy Cross is a great squad; they work hard and compete throughout the entire game,” said Bobcat captain Ty Deinema.
On a faceoff to the left of Crusader backstop Tony Quesada, Quinnipiac forward Ben Nelson won the draw, and Dan Lefort corralled the puck for the one-timer past Quesada’s glove side to tie it at 1.
The Bobcats scored their second goal of the game 1:20 later, again on a faceoff. This time Mark Agnew won the face off to the right of Quesada and Reid Cashman collected the pass from Matt Sorteberg, and shot it over Quesada’s glove to make it 2-1.
Those goals were scored over a span of 1:43.
Quinnipiac started the third period on the penalty kill. As the penalty expired the Bobcats were on the breakout, as Nick Barnych came out of the box. He received the pass and went in alone and was taken down, generating a penalty shot.
Matt Craig took the penalty shot for the Bobcats and scored on a deke, putting the puck pass Quesada’s left pad. It was Craig’s team-leading ninth goal.
“We have been playing well lately, but we just haven’t been getting the bounces,” said Deinema. “We capitalized on their mistakes tonight and were able to come away with a victory.”
The Crusaders amassed 16 shots on six power plays while holding Quinnipiac to six shots on four opportunities.
Holy Cross made it 3-2 at 8:45 of the third on a goal by Chris Trovato, his first of the season. Brian Gabriel took the initial shot which was blocked by Matt Froehlich and deflected to an open Trovato, who twinkled the twine.
Aaron Ludwig added an empty-net goal to secure the victory for the Bobcats, who took a crucial two points in the game to move them into fifth in Atlantic Hockey.
“They are a great team and it’s always a great matchup when we play,” said Deinema.
Quinnipiac plays a home-and-home series next weekend with Army, while Holy Cross hosts Canisius for a pivotal weekend of the top two teams in Atlantic Hockey
