* This article was updated on 10/22 at 1:34 p.m
Over the weekend, the No. 7/8 Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team traveled to Orono, Maine to take on the No. 9/10 Maine Black Bears.
After a 3-2 victory last week against Big 10 opponent Penn State, head coach Rand Pecknold started first year Dylan Silverstein in place of sophomore Matej Marinov for Friday’s game.
The Bobcats didn’t start strong, with a sloppy beginning that left Silverstein vulnerable. With 12:18 left in the first period, Nolan Renwick got one past Silverstein to put the Black Bears up 1-0.
Over the next 12 minutes, five penalties were assessed for the rest of the period. The Bobcats and the Black Bears combined for 13 penalties throughout the game.
In the final seconds of the first, Maine senior Harrison Scott would find sophomore Charlie Russell who scored against Silverstein, increasing the Black Bears lead to 2-0.
The Bobcats started the second period stronger, but the penalty woes would haunt them. First year Elliot Groenewold would head to the box for holding 6:21 into the second. Four minutes later, Groenewold would head back to the box for interference.
With 1:20 left in the second, first year Tyler Borgula collected a pass from senior Davis Pennington and beat Maine netminder Albin Boija to bring the game within one.
The final 20 minutes would leave both teams at a standstill, both teams missed opportunities on powerplay. The Bobcats would have a chance late as Maine defenseman Frank Djurasevic would go to the box for tripping. With 2:42 left in the game, the Maine penalty kill would hold strong and the Bobcats would ultimately fall to the Maine Black Bears by a score of 2-1.
“We didn’t handle the moment well,” Pecknold said.
The Bobcats looked to rebound the next night with Marinov back in net and looked for a burst of offense.
Quinnipiac would get off to yet another rough start, allowing a shorthanded goal to Taylor Makar five minutes into the game after knocking down Cooper Moore to steal the puck.
After falling into a 2-0 hole halfway into the first period, the Bobcats would get one back on a powerplay goal by Aaron Schwartz, cutting the Black Bears’ lead in half.
Maine would get that goal right back with a goal from Ross Mitton less than two minutes later, making it a three-to-one Maine lead going into the second period.
An early powerplay would lead to yet another Black Bears goal, this one from Thomas Freel. This gave Maine a demanding four-to-one lead early less than a minute into the second period.
The Bobcats needed a burst of offense and they would get it. The team would score three unanswered goals to wrap up the second period. The game was tied at four a piece. The third goal was on the powerplay from Travis Treloar.
With new life, the Bobcats came out for the third period fighting. With 6:39 into the period, the team got their first lead of the night. Borgula fed Chris Pelosi for the goal.
Down five to four the Black Bears would take a penalty with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Their chance to tie the game was fleeting. About 30 seconds after the Maine penalty, Davis Pennington would get called for holding. This ended the Bobcat powerplay before it had a chance to start.
With the goaltender pulled and a five-on-four advantage, the Black Bears would tie it up off of a Brandon Holt shot with just under 30 seconds remaining in regulation.
This game would head to overtime where the Black Bears dominated possession. Just under four and a half minutes into overtime, Quinnipiac blocked a shot from David Breazeale. But snagged his own rebound and shot it right past Marinov. Maine completed the sweep, by winning the second game 6-5 in overtime.
The Bobcats come back to Hamden for a showdown with the University of New Hampshire Wildcats on Oct. 25 and 26.
