The Quinnipiac Bobcats (2-2-0, 0-0-0 ECACHL) took a 6-0 decision over the Bentley Falcons (1-1-0, 0-0-0 AHA) in the championship game of the Q-Cup at the Northford Ice Pavilion Saturday night.
With the win, the Bobcats earned their sixth straight title and eighth overall in the 10-year history of the tournament.
The Bobcats got out to an early lead on a four-on-four goal by Joe Dumais. Mike Borideri sent a pass to Ty Deinema, who hit Dumais on the doorstep. Dumais sneaked a shot through Falcons goaltender Jason Kearney to give Quinnipiac a 1-0 edge.
In the second period, the Bobcats came out flying, scoring four goals. David Marshall kicked off the scoring rush at 2:10 of the middle frame. Bobcat Reid Cashman intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and fed a streaking Marshall, who put the puck past Kearney to make it 2-0.
In a span of less the three minutes, the Bobcats scored three more goals.
The first was by Jamie Bates, who deflected a Ben Nelson shot past Kearney at 8:38. Less then two minutes later, Chris Walsh scored a goal off of a Bentley defenseman’s shin pad.
Marshall recorded his second goal of the night after banging home a rebound off a wrist shot by Andy Meyer, giving the Bobcats a 5-0 lead after two periods.
“Our second period was probably our best all season,” said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold. “It wasn’t just the four goals, but our intensity and energy.”
After the fifth Quinnipiac goal, Bentley replaced goaltender Kearney with Geordan Murphy, who faced his first action in net this season.
The Bobcats added a sixth goal at 9:06 of the third period. Marshall factored into the scoring once again, this time collecting an assist on Deinema’s rebound tally.
The Bobcats outshot the Falcons 43-18 in the game. Freshman goaltender Bud Fisher made all 18 saves to record his first collegiate shutout. Despite 29 penalties and a total of 93 penalty minutes, the teams went a combined 0-for-19 on the power play.
Bentley’s Brendan McCartin and Quinnipiac’s Fisher and Bates were named to the All-Tournament team, and Cashman was named tournament MVP after recording five points (2-3) in the tournament.
Quinnipiac returns to action next weekend with a home-and-home series with the AIC Yellow Jackets. Meanwhile, Bentley will host a pair of nonconference games against Robert Morris.
