By: Drew Camposano, Howlings
BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Quinnipiac Bobcats are headed to Tampa, Florida, to compete in their third NCAA D1 Frozen Four Tournament after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 4-1 Sunday in the Regional Final in front of 4,557 at the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport CT.
Quinnipiac Head Coach Rand Peknold doesn’t see this trip any less exciting than his other two trips. “I mean it’s exciting,” he said. “The third one is as good as the first two.”
Quinnipiac’s campus is less than thirty minutes from Bridgeport, which flooded the crowd in Bobcat yellow, giving them a clear home advantage. The environment didn’t go unnoticed by the players, “It was great. Everybody was very loud tonight; it helps us get our legs going,” sophomore forward Cristophe Tellier said.
Ohio State’s Joe Dunlap gave the Buckeyes an early lead and their only lead of the game at 1:31. Dunlap took a turnover, beat two Quinnipiac defenders to go one-on-one against Yaniv Perets, a finalist for both the Hobey Baker Award as college player of the year and the Mike Richter Award as the NCAA’s top goalie. Dunlap beat the Bobcat netminder, going right-to-left and putting a backhander into the net for the only goal they would get by him in the contest.
But Quinnipiac continued to pressure the Buckeyes and scored two goals 15 seconds apart. Christophe Fillion equalized the score at 13:20, and then Skyler Brind’Amour scored what proved to be the game-winner at 13:35.
The period ended 2-1 with Quinnipiac leading, which didn’t bode well for the Buckeyes, who entered the game 2-7-0 when trailing at the end of the first.
The coaching staff of the Buckeyes adjust the team’s approach for the second period, and they responded and looked like a different team. After a back-and-forth affair in the second period, Ohio State had its best shot at the equalizer early in the third period with a breakaway on Perets, who made an outstanding save to keep the lead. Tellier and his teammates knew closing the game out against the Buckeyes was not going to be easy. “Ohio State is coming off a dominant 8-1 victory against Harvard. It doesn’t take long for this high-powered offense to get going.”
In the third period, with Gustaf Westlund in the penalty box for a Boarding call, Tellier thought he had scored and started to celebrate. The referees disagreed, and the play continued, which silenced the crowd. At the next stoppage, the play was reviewed, and the referees’ decision was overturned. The Bobcats were awarded their third and backbreaking third goal at 15:30 to make it 3-1. Quinnipiac would add an empty net score by Jayden Lee with 1:57 left, ending the Buckeyes’ run in the NCAA Tournament.
They didn’t go out without putting up a fight,” Ohio State Head Coach Steve Rohlik said. “Obviously, it’s a disappointing result. I couldn’t ask for more from my team though we played a good game. I thought we left everything on the rink.”
The Buckeyes close their 2022-23 season with a 21-16-3 record.
Quinnipiac will play Michigan in the April 6 semifinals at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
