Bobcats Clobber Crusaders, 4-1

The No. 6/6 Bobcats celebrate a 4-1 win over Atlantic Hockey challenger
Holy Cross on Tuesday night.

HAMDEN—The No. 6/6 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team wrapped up non-conference play for the 2018-19 season with a dominant 4-1 victory over the Holy Cross Crusaders at Frank Perrotti Jr. Arena on Tuesday night. Four different Bobcats found the back of the net, led by Alex Whelan's two-point night. The Ramsey, NJ native had a goal and assist. Brogan Rafferty (Dundee, IL) and Craig Martin (Trail, BC, Canada) picked up two helpers apiece to tie for the team lead in points.

Desi Burgart (North Vancouver, BC, Canada) and Brandon Fortunato (North Hills, NY) each tallied for a second straight game, while William Fällström (Stockholm, Sweden) scored for the first time since Jan. 4.

EARLY DOMINANCE

Alex Whelan recorded his third multi-point game of the season
with a goal and an assist Tuesday night. He has scored  points
in back-to-back contests.

The Bobcats totally dominated the first period, out-shooting the visitors 18-1 in the opening stanza. They were able to find the back of the net only once, however, and took a 1-0 lead into the middle frame. The Bobcats extended their lead to lead to three goals in the second stanza and never looked back.

Goaltender Andrew Shortridge (Anchorage, AK) continued his impressive play betwixt the pipes for the Bobcats with 25 stops while earning his 10^th victory of the season. With the win, Quinnipiac improved to Quinnipiac 18-5-1 overall (7-4-1 ECAC Hockey), while Holy Cross fell to 4-15-3 (4-10-2 in Atlantic Hockey). The Bobcats now enjoy a 10-day break before returning to action on Feb. 1 at Clarkson with a return to ECAC Hockey play. First puck drops at 7 p.m. at Cheel Arena in Potsdam, NY.

SCORING SUMMARY

• (13:54, 1^st period) – Quinnipiac 1, Holy Cross 0: Karlis Cukste (Riga, Latvia) started the play from behind the Bobcats go before Rafferty carried the puck the length of the ice. When Rafferty got below the right faceoff circle, he made a no-look pass to Burgart entering the slot where he wristed home the puck top shelf past Holy Cross goaltender Tommy Nixon.
• (3:22, 2^nd period) – Quinnipiac 2, Holy Cross 0: Whelan doubled the Bobcats lead with a perfect redirect from the slot early in the first period. Fällström won a faceoff in the offensive zone back to Martin who passed the puck quickly to Chase Priskie (Pembroke Pines, FL) at the point. Priskie one-timed the shot on goal where Whelan redirected the puck past Nixon.
• (5:48, 2^nd period) – Quinnipiac 2, Holy Cross 1: The Crusaders got a goal back nearly two-and-a-half minutes later on Patrick O'Leary's first career goal. Shortridge misplayed the puck behind his own net and O'Leary gained control of the puck to swipe it past a diving Shortridge.
• (8:55, 2^nd period / PP) – Quinnipiac 3, Holy Cross 1: Fällström picked up a goal of his own on the power play near the midway point of the third period. Rafferty worked the puck down to Martin in the right corner where he quickly hit Whelan with a pass in the slot for a quick shot. Whelan's shot was saved but the rebound kicked right to Fällström on the back door.
• (19:42.1, 2^nd period / PP) – Quinnipiac 4, Holy Cross 1: Fortunato kept up his hot play with a power-play goal just as the Holy Cross penalty was about to expire with 47.9 seconds to go in the second period. Holy Cross trailed to clear the puck out of the zone but Rafferty stopped the puck and shifted it to Fortunato at the right point. Fortunato faked a shot to juke the Holy Cross defender before wristing home the goal.

’CAT NOTES

• Whelan's goal was the 30^th of his Bobcat career. He now has 17 points this season—two shy of tying his career high.
• Martin recorded a pair of assists for his 10^th career multi-assist game and now has two-plus points in seven games this season. He now has 21 points on the season, the fourth Quinnipiac player to record 20-plus points on the year.
• Rafferty picked up his third multi-point effort of the season with a pair of assists to give him double-digit helpers for a third straight season.
• Fortunato extended his point streak to four games with a power-play goal Tuesday night and now has six points in his last four games. With his fifth goal of the season, Fortunato ties his career-high for a third straight season.
• Priskie moved into a tie for the team-lead with 29 points of the season as he recorded his 16^th assist to give him points in back-to-back games.
• With 71 assists, Priskie moves into a tie for third all-time in program history for assists by a defenseman with Dan Ennis '03.
• Burgart scored the first goal of the game for the Bobcats for a second straight night as he recorded his third goal of the season and now has points in back-to-back games for the third time this year.
• Fällström also recorded a point for a second straight game and now has points in five of his last six games with a goal against the Crusaders. He is one of three freshmen on the team with at least five goals and one of eight players overall.
• Shortridge continued his solid goaltending with his 10^th win of the season, the second-most in ECAC Hockey with his 25-save performance. He continues to lead the nation with a 1.15 GAA and .956 save percentage.
• Cukste picked up his 13^th assist of the season with a helper on Burgart's goal to open the game 14^th point of the season, one shy of tying his previous best of 15 points from his freshman season.

—Staff Reports