Bobcats Travel to Robert Morris for Non-Conference Series
By Brian Farrell, QBSN Staff Writer
Cal Heeter and a five-minute major contact to the head penalty are the only two things that have prevented the Bobcats from a 6-0 start to the season. Since opening night against Ohio State on Oct. 7th, QU has won five straight outscoring opponents 26-9.
Following their 6-1 win over Bentley on Tuesday QU head coach Rand Pecknold expressed his excitement about the fast start.
“We’re on a roll right now. It was a great 60 minutes. We were focused in the first, had a great second period, and it got a little sloppy in the second with all the penalties, but I thought we stayed focused, played hard and played our game.”
Junior forward Jeremy Langlois leads the nation with seven goals through the first six games, five of those on the power play.
So far Langlois has been able to attribute his success to the help of his line mates—senior captain Scott Zurevinski and highly touted freshman Matthew Peca.
“My line—me, Zurvy, Peca—[do] a pretty good job out there. Pecs is pretty fast out there, which really helps me and Zurvy out.”
Peca finally got his first collegiate goal Tuesday night on the power play. Right now he is second on the team with five assists.
For the first time in a number of seasons Pecknold appears to have two goaltenders to work with, senior Dan Clarke and junior Eric Hartzell.
Entering the season both goaltenders have proven that they can be successful on the D-I level. In Clarke’s sophomore campaign he was named the team MVP, logging nearly 2,000 minutes through 34 games, while compiling a 2.52 goals-against average.
Not to be outdone, last season Hartzell finished fourth in the nation with a .927 save percentage with three shutouts.
This weekend the Bobcats travel eight hours west to Moon Township, Pennsylvania to take on Robert Morris.
The last time these two teams met the Bobcats were in a similar situation. In 2009 the Colonials handed QU their first loss of the season. After Quinnipiac blew out the Colonials 5-0 on Oct. 30th, RMU answered back on Halloween night powering by the Bobcats 8-5. QU would not lose again until Dec. 4th at Yale.
Robert Morris is 1-2-0 on the season after dropping games to Air Force and Colgate. Their lone win of the season was against Mercyhurst back on Oct. 8th.
It is too early in the season to see just how RMU plans on replacing their top scorers from last year’s squad.
Last season forward Nathan Longpre and defenseman Denny Urban combined for 84 points. This year the Colonials will have to look to a multitude of players to score goals. Senior Trevor Lewis leads the team with two goals and one assist through the first three games.
A question for both sides this season was who will step up between the pipes. So far QU coach Rand Pecknold has been comfortable playing both Hartzell and Clarke and doesn’t seem to have a preference yet.
For Robert Morris the question is whether or not senior Brooks Ostergard can continue his success from last season. In two games this season he has allowed six goals and owns both of RMU’s losses. Junior Eric Levine has the Colonials’ lone win on the year after allowing just one goal on 30 shots against Mercyhurst.
To be successful the Colonials must continue to be effective on special teams. Through the first three games they are first in the nation going 10-for-10 on the penalty kill.
The key for the Bobcats this weekend will be whether or not they can keep their offense rolling despite the tough timing of their schedule. The Bobcats are coming off a stretch of four games in seven days. In that stretch QU never went more than two days without playing a game.
“So far we have dealt with adversity better this year, now it's early, and we haven't seen a ton of adversity up to this point, but it seems we are more emotionally mature this season,” Pecknold said.
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