The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Quinnipiac skates past rival Yale
Freshman Jermain scores twice, Bobcats down rival Yale
NEW HAVEN >> As a young teenager living in Greenwich, Nick Jermain often made the trek to Ingalls Rink to watch Yale men’s hockey games, high-flying teams of 2009 and 2010 that featured fellow Southern Connecticut residents Sean Backman and Mark Arcobello.
Not much has changed at Ingalls. Games still routinely sellout, and the intensity is kicked up several notches when Quinnipiac is in the building.
Jermain, now a freshman forward, got his first taste from the ice surface on Saturday night. He scored twice — his first two collegiate goals — including the gamewinner in the Bobcats’ 5-2 victory before a crowd of 3,500.
“I was friends with Sean’s younger brother, Brett, so we came up for a lot of games,” Jermain said. “I’ve still probably seen more games here than at Quinnipiac. The fans were so wild. I’ve been in the middle of it (as a fan), so to finally play in it was cool.”
Quinnipiac (16-11-2, 10-6-1) ended the game with four unanswered goals, two in the second and two in the third, to turn a one-goal deficit into a three-goal victory. The Bobcats have lost only once to Yale in the past 15 games, a streak that dates back six seasons. That one loss was in the 2013 national championship game in Pittsburgh.
The rivalry remains as fierce as ever, despite both teams being well out of the atlarge bid conversation, unusual positions for programs that’ve been NCAA tournament regulars for several years.
On Saturday, there were plenty of big hits and words exchanged between whistles. But Yale took the brunt of the penalty minutes thanks to separate 5-minute majors for boarding, which cost it dearly.
The first was issued to center J.M. Piotrowski midway through the first; the second to captain John Hayden early in the second. Quinnipiac sophomore defenseman Chase Priskie notched both with long slap shots, keeping the game tied at 2-2 until the closing minutes of the second period.
“Any time there’s a 5-minute major, it takes the wind out of your sails,” Yale coach Keith Allain said. “I thought we had momentum, then the bench changes for five minutes. But I thought we handled it well, despite the goals.”
Jermain inflicted the biggest damage, breaking the tie with 5:38 to play in the second period on a driving goal he flipped up and over Yale goaltender Patrick Spano with a defender draped across his back.
It was Jermain’s first collegiate goal.
“I was trying to get a shot off and it ramped off the defenseman’s stick,” Jermain said. “The goalie had gone down already and it looped right over. I was surprised it went in; it was kind of lucky.”
At 4:30 of the third period, after an ugly Yale turnover in its defensive zone, Quinnipiac forwards Logan Mick and Kevin Duane worked the puck low toward Jermain, who shoveled one past Spano for his second career goal, a backbreaker for Yale.
A product of the Brunswick School, with a year of Juniors in Connecticut and last season in British Columbia, Jermain had appeared in just 14 of the first 28 games for Quinnipiac. He’s earned a regular spot with more meaningful shifts of late thanks to improved defense and positioning. On Saturday, his third straight game, he broke through and showed his offensive skills.
“He’s matured as the year’s gone on and learned our system,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “He’s got a high skill set, really good offensive player. He just had to learn how to be responsible on the defensive side of it, and he’s done a better job with that.”
Yale (10-9-4, 6-7-3) entered the weekend on a sixgame unbeaten streak. After losing to Princeton on Friday, a game Allain said lacked the requisite speed, toughness and strength from his team, the Bulldogs took the ice Saturday with a different mentality.
Frankie DiChiara got things rolling with a goal at 4:22 of the first period, when Joe Snively, sitting behind the net, found the slimmest of margins to stick a pass directly on DiChiara’s stick in front. Early in the second, the pair combined for a shorthanded goal, Snively getting hooked as he drove the net; DiChiara finding the puck and scoring on a wrap-around.
“Coach came in and gave it to us last night; he didn’t think we were competing or winning battles, stuff like that,” DiChiara said. “Any time you play Quinnipiac, it’s going to be an emotional game. You come out and emotions are high. Hits are going both ways. I think bringing the physical game is something we need to do on a nightly basis. We took a step in the right direction tonight doing that.”
“Any time there’s a 5-minute major, it takes the wind out of your sails.” — Yale coach Keith Allain