Freshman Alan Reynolds earned his first career win in net as the Princeton Tigers defeated the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, 4-2, Saturday afternoon at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.
“Princeton was hungrier and grittier than us,” said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold. “They did all the little things to win the game. They wanted it more. The first two goals they scored could have been blocked and we failed to get it done. Our commitment level just wasn’t there.”
Less than a minute into the third period, Cam Ritchie gave the Tigers their first lead of the game and they never looked back. Kyle Hagel sent a pass from the goal line to Ritchie in the slot, where he sniped it past Vetri at 33 seconds of the period. Kevin Kaiser also assisted on the goal.
Bryan Leitch got the Bobcats on the board first with his sixth of the season. Brandon Wong picked up the puck in the corner on the dump in and cycled it behind the net and Jamie Bates picked it up. Bates found Leitch on the back door for the goal.
Princeton tied the game when Matt Godlewski picked up a loose puck between the circles and fired it past Bobcats’ net minder Peter Vetri to tie it at one. Matt Arhontas batted a pass out of the air and Godlewski put it past Vetri at 13:52 of the first.
The Tigers took a two goal lead on Brett Wilson’s power play goal. On a five-on-three advantage, Lee Jubinville won the faceoff back to Taylor Fedun, who sent a pass over to Wilson. Wilson shot one under the stick side of Vetri for the 3-1 lead.
“The last two weeks it looked like we turned it around, but tonight is obviously a step back. I’m really disappointed,” said Bates.
Ben Nelson cut the deficit in half when he found a puck lying in the crease after a Bates shot from the left circle. Leitch also assisted on the goal at 11:36 of the third. Bates has three goals in his last two games.
Ritchie added an empty net goal to seal the victory for Princeton.
This was the third game in eight days between the two clubs. The Bobcats took the previous two games, 4-0 and 5-2.
“We had an opportunity to get two points and slide into second place,” said Bates. “You can’t play like we did, at home in front of our crowd, and expect to win.”
