The Quinnipiac Bobcats (9-7-0, 3-5-0 ECACHL) took a 6-3 loss to the Princeton Tigers (3-7-0, 2-6-0 ECACHL) in front of 2,297 Saturday afternoon at Ingalls Rink on the campus of Yale University.
The Bobcats scored the first two goals, but then Princeton scored six straight goals.
This was the second meeting between the two clubs in a span of five days. Quinnipiac took the first game by a score of 3-2 at Princeton on Tuesday night, in Princeton, NJ, and the Tigers were looking for revenge.
“They competed well tonight and they wanted to win,” said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold.
There was no scoring in the first period and only eleven combined shots. Both teams came close to scoring, with Quinnipiac hitting a crossbar and Princeton hitting the post.
In the second period both teams awoke, and there were five goals scored. Quinnipiac took the lead three minutes in on a Matt Sorteberg five-on-three power-play goal. Ben Nelson won the face off to the left of Tiger goaltender Eric Leroux to Jamie Bates, who fed Sorteberg for the one-timer glove side.
The Bobcats scored another five-on-three power-play goal, this time by Nelson. Bates sent a cross-ice pass to Reid Cashman who shot, and Nelson picked up the rebound and put it past Leroux to make it 2-0.
Princeton would go on to score six consecutive goals with the first three in a span of five minutes. The first goal was scored by Brandan Kushniruk when he created a turnover deep in the Bobcats zone and shot high past Quinnipiac net minder Bud Fisher. Brian Cathas scored the second off of a rebound shot by Seamus Young.
The tides turned when Patrick Neundorfer blasted a shot uncontested from the blue line, which got past Fisher.
Young would make it 4-2 at 4:22 of the third when he was on the back door and was fed by Grant Goeckner-Zoeller. After the goal, Josh Siembida replaced Fisher in net. Unfortunately, the change in goal wouldn’t help.
Kushniruk would score his second of the game, and Kyle Hagel added a goal to make it 6-2. Nelson would also add another goal to make the final 6-3.
Nelson and Bates of the Bobcats both tallied three points on the night, and Cashman had an assist to add to his nation-leading twenty one.
The Bobcats return to the ice on Friday when they travel to Colgate, while Princeton takes on Cornell.
