Quinnipiac, Yale Skate to Tie

The Quinnipiac University Bobcats and seventh ranked Yale Bulldogs skated to a 3-3 tie in ECAC Hockey action Friday night at the TD Banknorth Sports Center.

The Bobcats tied it up at three a piece with 3:04 remaining in the third period when Greg Holt skated in to the zone with a pass from Heichman and beat Richards through the five hole. Holt came between the circles and cleared himself of the defensemen and threw the puck on net. It found its way between Richards’ pads and trickled over the goal line.

“We had numerous opportunities in the third period to put the game away and we didn’t,” said Yale head coach Keith Allain. “They made their push. I don’t think we played our best game.”

The Bulldogs opened up the scoring just seven minutes into the first period when Jeff Anderson sent a breakout pass to Matt Nelson. Nelson came in on a 2-on-1 with Brendan Mason where he fed Mason and received the puck back for one time timer shot. Nelson was able to beat Quinnipiac’s Dan Clarke stick side at 6:57.

Yale took a two goal advantage when Mark Arcobello beat Clarke through the five hole. Brian O’Neill sent a pass through the neutral zone to Arcobello who skated over the blue line and fired a shot into the back of the net for his 13th goal of the season.

After the goal, Clarke was replaced with senior Bud Fisher.

The goalie change helped as the Bobcats were able to put one on the board.

“He made some big saves and we needed that,” said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold. It was hard to pull a goalie that early in the game but I thought Clarke was fighting it.” He looked like he did his sophomore year.”

In a scrum in front of Yale’s Alec Richards, Chris Myers was able bang home a rebound shot by Mike Atkinson. Jean-Marc set the play up when he found Atkinson crossing the blue line for the shot. As Myers crashed the net he found the puck and slid it between the pads of Richards at 16:59.

The Bobcats tied it up at two goals apiece when Spencer Heichman put in a rebound goal that bounced off the pads of Richards. Heichman put the puck in off the crossbar and it bounced to the ice. The goal light never went on, but referee Pete Feloa motioned that it was a goal. After a review of the play the goal stood tying the score at 2:34.

Arcobello put the Bulldogs back on top with a power play goal at the 8:47 mark of the second. As Yale cycled the puck around, Arcobello set himself up to the right of Fisher and ripped a shot short side past him and under the bar from a Ken Trentowski pass.

“They [Yale] are very good,” said Pecknold. “[Sean] Backman and Arcobello are dynamic. They do a lot of things well. It’s a tough team to play against and I was really impressed with Yale.”

The Bobcats lost less than a month ago to Yale, 3-0 at Ingalls Rink.

The Bobcats are 5-2-1 all-time versus the Bulldogs now. Quinnipiac now holds a 2-1-1 record at home against Yale.

Quinnipiac (15-13-3 overall, 8-8-3 in ECAC Hockey) is 1-4-2 in overtime games this season.

Richards made 29 saves in the tie, while Fisher also made 29. Clarke made 7 saves in the non decision.

Quinnipiac will host its final regular season contest at home against Brown tomorrow, while Yale (19-5-2, 14-3-2) will travel to Princeton.