Weekend Recap: Another Split

via QU Chronicle

By: Ben Rego

Another weekend down and again it's a bittersweet one for the Quinnipiac Bobcats Men's Ice Hockey team. Heading into the weekend ranked as the 18th team in the nation the Bobcats once again skated to the beat of the same drum as last week as they won the first game of the weekend and would end up losing the second game. The good news for the weekend is that the line of St. Denis, JST, and Langlois continued their early season success and the bad news is that it seems like the top line of Peca and the Joneses are still in a slump. We witnessed the first goalie pull of the season when Rand took out senior goalie Eric Hartzell and replaced him with freshmen Michael Garteig. Let's not forget the excellent early season play of sophomore Danny Federico who could quite possibly cement a spot on a top defensive pairing this year. The Bobcats are now 2-1 on the season and hopefully they can start adding more to the win column.

The first game of the weekend started off slow as both teams skated to a 0-0 tie after the first period. Quinnipiac had some solid scoring opportunities on both power plays they had in the first period however the puck stayed out and we were on to the second period. With 10:58 to go in the second period the Bobcats struck first as senior Russell Goodman redirected a shot from Loren Barron at the point. It wouldn't be long for the Cats to strike again as assistant captain Cory Hibbeler stuck a fork in a bouncing puck and roofed it past RMU goalie Levine giving the Bobcats some insurance heading into the third period.

In the third period, I witnessed one of the greatest shots I've ever seen in my life. Senior defensemen Loren Barron brought the puck down into the right side of the offensive zone and flicked a wrist shot that was so pretty it had seniors at Hamden High nominating it for Prom Queen. The vulcanized rubber would go over Levine's left shoulder in a key hole sized gap and the Bobcats skated to a 3-0 lead with 15 minutes remaining. Minutes later Clay Harvey would hook up Jeremy Langlois for a short handed goal delicately sending the puck on net with enough time for Langer to push it past Levine. That would prove to be enough goals for the Bobcats as they won 4-0. Hartzell would head home for the night with his first shutout of the year after facing 16 shots. The Bobcats picked up the pace immensely towards the end of the first and kept it rolling throughout the game and left fans with a smile on their faces.

Read the rest of the recap on FTNTTB.