Article by: Drew Feinberg
It was senior night Saturday at the Frank Perrotti, Jr. Arena, and the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team celebrated accordingly. Quinnipiac defeated the RPI Engineers 4-1. Five seniors (Tanner MacMaster, Bo Pieper, Kevin Duane, Kevin McKernan and Landon Smith) were honored pregame by head coach Rand Pecknold and Director of Athletics Greg Amodio.
Four different Bobcats scored in the game, including junior Craig Martin, who put Quinnipiac on the board early in the first period with a beautiful wrist shot through traffic to beat RPI goaltender Linden Marshall.
After RPI’s Jared Wilson was issued a five-minute major for a hit from behind on Nick Jermain, the Bobcats made the Engineers pay.
Scott Davidson does not get on the scoresheet very often, but Saturday he lit the lamp for only the second time this season. His goal came off a beautiful feed from freshman Matt Forchuk on the power play. Just over a minute later, junior Brandon Fortunato extended Quinnipiac’s lead to 3-0.
“I think the last time I scored was the last time I was interviewed,” Davidson joked postgame. “It feels great when I score…it doesn’t happen often but it always feels great.”
Davidson finished the game with a team-high and season-high six shots.
“I think we bought-in a full 60 minutes tonight. Last night the guys bought in for 42 or 44 minutes…I think we were more focused tonight,” Pecknold said. The Bobcats head coach has stated his team has struggled “buying in” to the system since the beginning of the season, a fortune unknown to Quinnipiac hockey fans of late.
Along with a balanced offense, the Bobcats were also anchored by strong play in net from freshman Keith Petruzzelli. Petruzzelli saved 22 of 23 shots in the contest, improving his record to 4-4-2 on the season.
Quinnipiac heads out on the road for its final two games of the regular season next weekend, taking on St. Lawrence on Friday, Feb. 23, and Clarkson on Saturday, Feb. 24.
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Freshman forward Odeen Tufto has been red hot throughout most of this season, and his hot streak continued Saturday night against RPI. Tufto tallied two assists, marking his 13th multi-point game of the season. He now leads the conference with 28 assists, and is third in the conference with 36 points.
“He’s very good on the power play, he makes plays and is continuing to round out his game,” Pecknold said.
Going forward, Tufto is going to help bolster the offense as the Bobcats head into ECAC playoff action.
He is currently the most important offensive player on the team, and Pecknold agreed based on his numbers so far this season.
Rand Pecknold full postgame press conference:
Scott Davidson full postgame press conference:
Tanner MacMaster full postgame press conference:
