Friday, December 1, 2017

Quinnipiac falls 6-2 to Harvard

Quinnipiac vs. Harvard (copyright BobcatsHockeyBlog)

Quinnipiac couldn't build off its strong performance Tuesday night against Princeton as they fell 6-2 on Friday to Harvard on white out night at Frank Perrotti , Jr. Arena. Quinnipiac was looking to build some momentum as the first semester winds down and while they got off to a quick start they couldn't sustain it as the game progressed as it was the Ryan Donato show that took over for the Crimson tonight.

Just 3:51 into the game Matt Forchuk sent a great pass from the half wall where Nick Jermain tipped it past Michael Lackey for the goal. The Qunnipiac lead was short lived as just three minutes later Harvard's Wiley Sherman bombed a shot from the point past Andrew Shortridge to tie the game. Not even two and half minutes later Ryan Donato won a battle for the puck, made a quick move around John Furgele who got held up by the official and beat Shortridge right in front of the net. With less than three and half minutes to play in the first period, Harvard struck again with Lewis Zerter-Gossage sniping a shot throw traffic past Shortridge. 

The second period was fast with very few whistles along with no penalties yet to be called in the game. Harvard played a strong second frame despite not winning the shot total in the period. In the third both teams finally went to the penalty box for the games only two penalties early in the period. Quinnipiac would cut the lead to a goal when Odeen Tufto fed Tanner MacMaster racing into the offensive zone where he beat Lackey short side for the goal. 

Quinnipiac vs. Harvard (photo copyright BobcatsHockeyBlog)
The Bobcat momentum was gone in an instant when less than two minutes later it was Ryan Donato with a wrap around goal to give the Crimson a two goal edge again. Donato, a possible United States Olympian this winter took a major hit after scoring the goal. The Boston Bruins draft pick sealed the game with an empty net goal from deep in his own defensive zone. The Crimson added a garbage time five hole goal by Seb Lloyd. 

Quinnipiac once again made another goal-tender look great this time in Michael Lackey who had not seen game action since the 2015-2016 season. Despite Quinnipiac having 43 shots on the net, it is the lack of finishing ability this roster has that is preventing this offense from taking strides forward. Andrew Shortridge finished with 24 saves and wasn't at his best but he did not have a ton of help in front of him from his defense. 

The Bobcats will now try to salvage a split of the weekend when they welcome Dartmouth to Frank Perrotti, Jr. Arena tomorrow night. The Big Green are coming off a blow out loss 9-2 to Princeton in New Jersey.

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