Two third period goals helped the Quinnipiac University Bobcats salvage a 2-2 tie with the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers in ECAC Hockey action Friday night.
“I’m mixed [on final result],” said Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold. “I like how we battled back from being down 2-0 in the third period. I thought that was a great effort. I thought RPI was hungrier than us at the beginning of the game. They really played well and took it to us. I was disappointed with our game preparation.”
The opening goal of the contest didn’t come until midway through the second period when Matt Angers-Goulet beat Quinnipiac’s Bud Fisher through the five-hole. With traffic in front of the net, Jeff Foss fed Kurt Colling for the shot that found its way through the pads of Fisher at 9:05.
RPI’s Seth Klerer added to the lead less than two minutes later on a power play. Chase Polacek ripped a shot from between the circles that went wide of the net and bounced off the boards to Klerer’s stick. Fisher was off of his angle and Klerer was able to bang the puck off Fisher’s pads on the short side and it trickled in for the two-goal lead.
To open the third period, Quinnipiac (11-6-2, 6-3-2 ECAC) pulled Fisher in favor of Dan Clarke.
The Bobcats cut the deficit in half on Mike Atkinson’s breakaway. With a puck that bounced off of an RPI (3-15-2, 2-5-1 ECAC) defender’s stick, Scott Zurevinski picked it up and sprung Atkinson for a breakaway opportunity. Atkinson came in on Mathias Lange and beat him through the five-hole at 5:34 of the third period.
The Bobcats looked to tie the score when Bryan Leitch went in on another breakaway for Quinnipiac, but he was slashed by Peter Merth on the attempt, putting the Bobcats on a power play.
On the ensuing chance, the Bobcats tied the game with Leitch’s goal, his ninth of the season. Brandon Wong wrapped the puck around the boards. David Marshall battled for the puck along the boards and threw the puck at the net, where Leitch stood for the tap-in goal at 11:28.
On the goal, both Leitch and Marshall extended their point scoring streak to 12 games.
Quinnipiac rode a five game win streak and were winners of nine of their last 11 games heading into the contest. They are now 5-0-3 in last eight games versus RPI.
Lange made 33 saves in the effort, while Fisher finished with 13 and Clarke with eight.
“I thought Lange was the best player on the ice tonight,” said Pecknold. “He was unbelievable. He was dominant out there.”
The Bobcats host Union tomorrow evening, while RPI travels to Princeton.
