Quinnipiac falls to Cornell 2-1

The No. 15/15 Quinnipiac Bobcats fell on Saturday night 2-1 in a crucial game to the No. 19 Cornell Big Red. After a solid win last night against Colgate with the offense breaking out for four goals, the Bobcats could only muster one goal in tonight's game. Head coach Rand Pecknold turned to freshman Andrew Shortridge in net for third consecutive game. Its looks as if the their may be a changing of the guard in between the pipes for the Bobcats.

Mitch Gillam (photo by Ned Dykes/Cornell University Athletics)

In the first period Cornell came out strong in the first period taking it to the Bobcats early in the period. The Big Red got on the board early in the period on captain Jeff Kubiak's second goal of the season. Brendan Smith and Mitch Vanderlaan picked up assists on Kubiak's goal. Almost three minutes later the Bobcats responded with a power play goal when Craig Martin took a Brogan Rafferty pass and bombed a shot from the top left circle past Mitch Gillam. Rafferty and Chase Priskie assisted on Martin's goal. Each team traded a pair of penalties in the first period. Cornell out shot Quinnipiac 9-8 in the opening frame.

In the second period Cornell really took it to Quinnipiac in the period. The Big Red really buckled down on defense and limited the scoring opportunities for the Bobcats. Midway through the period the Big Red scored on the power play by Alex Rauter on assists by Matt Buckles and Alec McCrea. Cornell finished the period out shooting the Bobcats 14-4.

Andrew Shortridge (photo by Mary Schwalm/Boston Globe)

In the third period Cornell turned to one of the best defenses in the country to take over the game and shut the Bobcats down offensively. Despite a couple of Quinnipiac power plays, Cornell's defense suffocated the Bobcats into submission in the third period making Alex Rauter's second period goal hold up as the game winning goal. The teams both had eight shots apiece in the third period and Cornell out shot Quinnipiac for the game 31-20. Despite the loss Andrew Shortridge was strong in net making 29 saves. Cornell finished the game blocking 16 Quinnipiac shots. 

With the loss the Bobcats fall to 13-10-2 and drop from 19th in the 24th in the pairwise rankings. Cornell moves to 11-4-1 on the season and up to 11th in the pairwise rankings. Its the first time since the 2011-2012 season the Bobcats have lost more than ten games in regular season. Quinnipiac returns to action in two weeks when they host Arizona State in non conference action. 

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @jonathan_singer.