Behind Charles Long’s 19 save shutout the Colgate University Raiders defeated the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, 1-0, at the TD Banknorth Sports Center Friday night.
It was the first conference game for both teams to open up ECAC Hockey action and the two squads’ special teams were put to the test.
“Colgate was good on special teams. We didn’t get enough shots, turned the puck over too much and took too many penalties,†said Quinnipiac Head Coach Rand Pecknold.
At the 13:09 mark of the third period, Colgate went on a five on three power play where they scored the only goal of the game.
Francois Brisebois banged home a rebound that stood in the crease after David McIntyre took a shot through traffic at 11:17. The Bobcats, seconds before cleared a loose puck from the crease, where Jason Williams picked it up and fed McIntyre for the shot.
The Bobcats went to the penalty box early and often with three penalties in the first six minutes; two overlapping give the Raiders a five on three advantage. The Raiders put three shots on the two man advantage, but Quinnipiac’s Nick Pisellini stood strong in net stopping Colgate’s assault.
Colgate returned the favor, giving Quinnipiac their own five on three advantage, but the Bobcats were unable to strike.
The second period was more of the same, as each team swapped power plays in the opening minutes.
The Bobcats, shorthanded, came down on a two on one, where Jean-Marc Beaudoin rifled a shot far side and clanked it off the corner of the crossbar and post, giving the Bobcats their best scoring chance to that point.
Colgate (4-1-0, 1-0-0 ECAC Hockey) called timeout 50 seconds into the third period at the beginning of a 4-on-3 power play. Pisellini stopped two more shots, one on the backdoor to preserve the tie.
Quinnipiac (2-3-0, 0-1-0 ECAC Hockey), called a timeout with just under two minutes remaining looking to tie the score. With the goalie pulled, the Bobcats took the extra attacker but were unable to capitalize.
The two teams combined for 32 penalties with 72 minutes of penalty time, while going a combined one for sixteen with the man advantage.
Long made 19 saves in the shutout to improve to 3-1-0, while Pisellini made 25 in the loss to drop to 2-1-0.
