Two goals in 15 seconds sends Quinnipiac to the Frozen Four in win over Ohio State

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Quinnipiac is headed to the Frozen Four after posting a strong 4-1 victory over Ohio State in the Bridgeport regional final at Total Mortgage Arena on Sunday, March 26.

"Exciting moment for Quinnpiac and Bobcat nation, we're just ecstatic to go back to the Frozen Four," said head coach Rand Pecknold. "Obviously we've been before but for my fifth year guys we got to the elite eight twice and didn't breakthrough so I'm just thrilled for these guys. I thought our culture came through, that [Perets] was great."

Richter Award finalist Yaniv Perets made 34 saves for the Bobcats in the victory.

Even though the Buckeyes lost the match, they got on the scoreboard just 91 seconds into the regional championship as Joe Dunlap intercepted a Quinnipiac pass at the blue line and skated all the way down the ice to score on a breakaway opportunity. Dunlap shot the puck at Perets, who thought he made the save with his right leg pad, but upon video review the puck did indeed cross the goal line.

"It's frustrating," said Ohio State's Jake Wise. "You're shooting them two to one, and nothing's going in ... But I mean, we stuck with it. [Yaniv Perets] played well. He's a great goalie. There's a reason he's a finalist for the Richter I think, right? We did everything we could."

"Obviously disappointing result, I mean, I couldn't ask for more from my team, I thought we played a good game, I thought we left everything on the rink," said Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik. "To coach at any level there's two things that are really important. To me, it's being around great players and great people and I'm fortunate to have both, so I'm really proud of our hockey team and really proud of the people that put so much work into it."

Later in the first period, freshman Victor Czerneckianair shot at Ohio State netminder Jakub Dobes, who let up a big rebound, and junior Christophe Fillion scooped it up and put it past Dobes to tie things up at 1-1. Just 15 seconds later, Quinnipiac took the lead on another rebound goal, this time from Edmonton Oilers prospect Skylar Brind'Amour.

The Bobcats scored a highlight reel goal late in the third period. Cristophe Tellier alley-ooped the puck up and over the shoulder of Dobes, then hit the same shot out of mid-air to score. Referees originally called it a no-goal since it appeared that Dobes made a glove save, but upon video review it was determined that his glove, and the puck, went across the goal line.

"I didn't see much to be honest," said the sophomore forward about his goal. "I just flipped the puck up and then I came back and tried to take a whack at it and then it went in, so I'm just happy to help the team."

"That's a big time play," said Pecknold on Tellier's play. "He's a special player. He's just maturing and growing into what he can do. I think he's got a lot of great years ahead at Quinnipiac."

Senior defender Jayden Lee posted an empty net goal with less than two minutes in regulation to secure the victory.

Quinnipiac will face off against the winner of Michigan and Penn State in the 2023 Frozen Four semifinal on April 6.

QUINNIPIAC 4, OHIO STATE 1

Quinnipiac: 2-0-2—4
Ohio State: 1-0-0—1

First period scoring — 1. OSU, Joe Dunlap (unassisted) 1:31; 1. QU, Christophe Fillion (Victor Czerneckianair, Cristophe Tellier) 13:20; 2. QU, Skylar Brind'Amour (Desi Burgart, Ethan De Jong) 13:35
Penalties — QU, Jake Johnson (tripping) 2:48; OSU, Stephen Halliday (slashing) 14:44

Second period scoring — None
Penalties — QU, Brind'Amour (hooking) 6:35; OSU, Jaedon Leslie (interference) 11:12; QU, Zach Metsa (hooking) 17:54; OSU, Cam Thiesing (boarding) 20:00

Third period scoring — 3. QU, Tellier (Jacob Quillan, Fillion) 15:30; 4. QU, Jayden Lee (Sam Lipkin) 18:03
Penalties — QU, Lipkin (cross-checking) 9:22; OSU, Gustaf Westlund (boarding) 13:32

SOG — OSU, 9-15-11—35; QU, 8-3-6—17

Goalie saves — OSU, Jakub Dobes 7-3-3—13 (3GA); QU, Yaniv Perets 8-15-11—34 (1GA)

Penalties-minutes — OSU, 4-8; QU, 4-8

Power-play goals-opportunities — OSU 0-4; QU 0-4