The Quinnipiac Bobcats earned a gritty, hard-fought 3-2 victory over the AIC Yellow Jackets Tuesday night at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.
David Marshall scored the game winning goal with just under 10 minutes left to play in the game when he received a back-door pass from Dan Travis on the power play.
“We worked hard all game,” said Marshall. It was a great pass by Travis and I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time and he put it right on my stick.”
The Bobcats finished two for three on the power play.
“The third goal we scored tonight was a great play [on the power play] but in terms of five-on-five hockey, we’re just not doing the little things well,” said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold.
AIC was the aggressor early in the first period, winning battles in the corners, getting pucks to the net and blocking the shooting lanes.
It would be the Bobcats, though, who got on the board first with Bryan Leitch’s third goal of the season. Marshall picked off a pass in the neutral zone and came into the zone, then fed Leitch a pass behind his back from where he beat AIC’s Tom Fenton through the five-hole.
AIC responded quickly, with a goal 45 seconds later.
The Yellow Jackets battled deep in Quinnipiac’s corner and the puck slipped out Chris Bolognino, who shot on goal. Steve McLeod picked the rebound and beat Bobcats netminder Peter Vetri to the glove side to tie it at 1.
“American International played really well and I was impressed with their goaltender,” said Pecknold. “I think they’re in line for a good year.”
The Bobcats took the lead back at 8:34 of the second period on the power play. Off a faceoff in the Yellow Jackets’ end, Ben Nelson won the puck back to Matt Sorteberg. Sorteberg fed the puck the length of the blue line to Henningson for a one-timer from the point. Nelson slid across and tipped the puck past Fenton.
AIC came out of the gates in the third and scored just :17 into the period to tie the score. Mark Pavli fired home the initial shot by Jeremy Tendler in the slot.
Leitch has recorded at least one point in each of the Bobcats’ four games this season.
Vetri made 15 saves in the winning effort, while his counterpart Fenton made 27 in the loss.
