Men’s ice hockey loses second consecutive contest, fall to American International

The Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team lost their second straight game Tuesday night to the American International Yellow Jackets (3-4-1) by a score of 2-1 at the High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn.

Quinnipiac (3-3-1) will play their next game at home against ECAC rival Colgate Fri. at 7p.m.

“There were probably four or five times where we didn’t make the right decision,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “So we need to go to the drawing board and figure it out.”

AIC struck first in the second period, when Yellow Jackets freshman Chris Porter scored off a rebound on his own shot with help from sophomore teammate Nathan Sliwinski.

Yellow Jackets goaltender Ben Meisner, who had a 1-4-1 record and allowed four goals per-game on the year, stopped 39 of 40 total shots.

“I thought tonight was sloppy,” Pecknold said.

The Yellow Jackets used their lead to come out on all cylinders in the third period. While Quinnipiac led in shots overall 40-17, AIC came out firing at freshman goaltender Michael Garteig, made his first career start. With nine minutes remaining, the puck slowly slid towards AIC’s net and was an inch from scoring, but Meisner thought quickly and swatted it away.

“We can be a very good hockey team, we’re just not playing to our potential right now,” Quinnipiac captain Zack Currie said. “Focus on the little things, and get back to work.”

With 8:50 to go in the third, AIC added on to their lead. With a nice centering feed from Brandon Fagerheim, Matt Cassidy scored on a one-timer that Garteig wasn’t even set for. After the goal, Rand Pecknold called a timeout to regroup. Quinnipiac responded two minutes later, when Quinnipiac defenseman Mike Dalhuisen scored his first goal of the season to cut the lead to one.

Quinnipiac came close at the end of the third period, when sophomore Bryce Van Brabant almost scored on a rocket one-timer, but Meisner put his whole body in front of it. This resulted in three consecutive Bobcat shots that Meisner saved, with the third slipping into the net. Referees called the puck dead beforehand, so the goal was waived off.

“We need to play with a bit more urgency and try not to be playing much one-on-one hockey,” Pecknold said.

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