Strong start fizzles out for men's hockey

Strong start fizzles out for men’s hockey

By: Taylor Massey QBSN Staff Writer

After 20 days without a game the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team (13-8-5, 5-5-4 ECAC) returned to a roaring crowd at the TD Bank sports Center this Friday night. After a strong start the Bobcats slowly fell 6-3 to the Harvard Crimson (6-6-9, 5-4-7 ECAC) in an ECAC match-up.

The first period started out with a bang for the Bobcats as they scored two back-to-back goals in the first four minutes of play.

The first came just two minutes into the period when junior Jeremy Langlois (Tempe, Ariz.) caught the rebound of a shot by freshman Bryce Van Brabant (Morinville, Alberta). Thinking he had the save, Harvard goalie Steve Michalek stood in search for the puck, and in doing so, caused it to cross the line for the goal.

The second goal came a short minute and a half later off the stick of sophomore Kellen Jones (Montrose, British Columbia). Following a blocked attempt by sophomore Zach Tolkinen (Lino Lakes, Minn.) freshman Matthew Peca (Petawawa, Ontario) picked up the rebound and sent it over to Jones. Jones charged forward and fired into the upper left corner of the net.

Harvard finally made it onto the board with five minutes remaining in the period. Marshall Everson tapped the puck in after a bounce off Eric Hartzell’s (White Bear Lake, Minn.) pads. The assist was credited to Patrick McNally.

Quinnipiac came right back with a power-play goal by junior Loren Barron (Glendora, Calif.) and Peca with his second assist of the game in the last 30 seconds of the period. The first period came to an end with the Bobcats in the lead 3-1.

After letting three goals pass, Harvard decided to pull Michalek from goal and replace him with Raphael Girard. This proved to be a smart move as the Crimson made a stunning comeback.

Late in the period Harvard took their turn at back-to-back goals. In only twenty seconds, Harvard went from trailing by two to tying the game.

Following a struggle in front of the net, a pass to Harvard’s Eric Kroshus left him with a wide-open shot that he took full advantage of. Colin Blackwell and Luke Greiner were awarded the assists.

Seconds later, Harvard tied up the game with a miraculous shot by Danny Biega. Hartzell seemed to have to puck in his glove, but it slipped over the edge and into the net.

Harvard entered the final period with a noticeable boost from its late come back goals. They used their renewed energy to slide into the lead with a goal by Greiner. With the score standing at 4-3, Hartzell was replaced with senior goalie Dan Clarke (Belleville, Ontario).  

With two minutes remaining Quinnipiac opted to pull Clarke from the goal and add a sixth man on the ice.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to lead them to a win. Biega sealed the fate of the Crimson with the game-winning goal from across the ice with 17.9 seconds left in the game, for the final score of 6-3.

Already looking toward the future, senior captain Scott Zurevinski said, “Obviously there’s not a lot of time left in the season. We’re a good team and we know it. We just have to move on.”

Quinnipiac returns to the ice tomorrow, Feb. 4 to take on Dartmouth in another ECAC match-up.