In their first true road game of the season, the No. 13 Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team lost to No. 9 UMass Lowell, 6-3, in the first game of a two-game home-and-home series in Lowell, Mass.
The Bobcats didn’t feature much offense or defense in the first period of the game, which led the River Hawks to take a 2-0 lead minutes into the second period off goals from Chris Maniccia and Michael Kapla.
Sam Anas got Quinnipiac on the board on a 4-on-3 power play with his third goal of the season and Matthew Peca had two assists for his second straight multi-point game.
As the third period began, UMass Lowell’s C.J Smith got a quick shot for the team’s third goal off an assist from Evan Campbell to give the River Hawks a 3-1 lead. Minutes later, Jake Suter brought the puck across the crease and took a shot that was blocked by Quinnipiac goalie, Michael Garteig, but then Robert Francis came across the crease and hit it in the net past Garteig to extend UMass Lowell’s lead to 4-1.
Newcomers Justin Agosta and Andrew Taverner each scored their first goals as a Bobcat to keep Quinnipiac in the game.
With just under seven minutes left, UMass Lowell’s Joe Gambardella scored to put their lead back to three goals.
After Taverner’s goal put the Bobcats back within two, head coach Rand Pecknold chose to pull Garteig after Quinnipiac went on the power play to go 6-on-4. A turnover gave Lowell’s Michael Colatone an open lane for him to fire a shot from center ice to score the short-handed, empty-net goal as UMass Lowell took a 6-3 lead in the closing minutes, which they would go on to win by.
Quinnipiac and UMass Lowell will face-off for it’s second game on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn.
Q30 Sports’ Tom Albanese has more on this story from Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass.
