October 9, 2010

HAMDEN, Conn. - Men's ice hockey junior Spencer Heichman (Yorba Linda, Calif.) scored the game-winning goal as Quinnipiac defeated Ohio State, 2-1, in its 2010-11 season- and home-opener at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn. In front of nearly 3,000 screaming Bobcat fans that showed up for the first night of hockey in Hamden of the 2010-11 season, Quinnipiac opened the year with a win.

Junior captain Scott Zurevinski (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) also scored in the game while junior goalie Dan Clarke (Belleville, Ontario) turned back 29 of Ohio State's 30 shots to open the year at 1-0-0. Clarke stopped the first 22 shots he saw before OSU's Sergio Somma converted on the Buckeyes' first shot of the third period.

Zurevinski's first goal of the year came on the power play at the 16:51 mark of the first period on Ohio State's first penalty of the game. Quinnipiac rattled off a flurry of shots on Buckeyes' goalie Cal Heeter before Kellen Jones (Montrose, B.C.) handled the puck behind the net and dished to twin brother, Connor, who found Zurevinski waiting in front of the goal with an almost wide-open net. The goal was Zurevinski's 28^th of his career. The Jones' twins picked up their first career points on the play.

The second period was a draw as Clarke and Heeter stopped everything the opposition threw on goal. Clarke had 13 saves in the period while Heeter had 14.

Halfway through the third, Loren Barron (Glendora, Calif.) picked up the puck above the Bobcats' blue line and chipped it over to Yuri Bouharevich (Montreal, Quebec). Bouharevich was seeing his first regular season action since Jan. 4 when he suffered a season-ending injury and missed the last 24 games of the season. Bouharevich sent the puck up to Heichman who skated between two Ohio State defensemen, leaving him one-on-one with Heeter. Heichman went top-shelf on Heeter, scoring his first goal of the season to give Quinnipiac a one-goal lead, 2-1.

Ohio State was held to just one power play in regulation, while the Bobcats were 1-for-3 with a man advantage. The Bobcats were on good-behavior, whistled for just two penalties in the game.

Quinnipiac and Ohio State return to action to finish off their two-game series on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. at the TD Bank Sports Center.