Quinnipiac falls 1-0 to Cornell

Quinnipiac at Cornell (photo copyright BobcatsHockeyBlog)

A night after dramatic overtime win at Colgate, Quinnipiac was held off the scoreboard tonight against Cornell losing 1-0. While the Bobcats had their chances with multiple posts rung, scrums in front of the net, the lack of finishing ability was ever apparent in this game.

Quinnipiac had a lot of puck possession in this game and played well against the #4 Big Red but if you can't score goals you are not going to win games. The Bobcats once again out shot their opponent 28-20 but Cornell's defense did a good job all night limiting Quinnipiac's opportunities along with blocking 26 Bobcat shots on the night. Quinnipiac had won its past five meetings with Cornell at Lynah Rink and was 9-8-1 against the Big Red at Lynah prior to tonight's game. 

Cornell freshman Matt Galajda, who was solid in his previous game against Quinnipiac got a surprise start after senior Hayden Stewart who has assumed the starting job couldn't play due to injury. Galajda made 28 saves for his third shutout of the season to give Cornell it's first regular sweep of Quinnipiac since the 2011-2012 season.

Quinnipiac at Cornell (photo copyright BobcatsHockeyBlog)

The teams went scoreless in the first period and the lone goal wasn't scored until the 14:50 mark of the second period when Trevor Yates took a rebound off Quinnipiac goaltender Andrew Shortridge and fired it past him for his team leading 11th goal of the season. That was all Cornell would need as they improved to 13-2 on the season and 7-1 in the ECAC as Quinnipiac couldn't muster anything in the third period past Galajda.

Shortridge (19 saves) was solid again for Quinnipiac who fell to 8-11-2 on the season and 4-6-1 in ECAC play. They travel next weekend to Dartmouth and Harvard as they continue the January road trip.

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Scouting the Enemy: Cornell Big Red

On the second leg of a trip to frigid update New York, Quinnipiac heads to #5 Cornell to face the Big Red. The Bobcats have a five game winning streak at Lynah Rink and hold a 9-8-1 all-time record at the Big Red's historic home rink. Earlier this season back in November, Cornell edged out Quinnipiac 2-1 on the Bobcats home rink. The Big Red are off to a strong start this season at 12-2 (6-1 ECAC) and have positioned themselves nicely for the NCAA tournament come March if they continue to play as well as they did in the first half of the season. They are also 8-1 this season at Lynah Rink with its only to ECAC leader Clarkson.

Cornell Key Players: Trevor Yates (F), Anthony Angello (F), Mitch Vanderlaan, Alex Rauter (F), Jeff Malott (F), Morgan Barron (F), Brendan Smith (D), Yanni Kaldis (D), Alec McCrea (D), Matthew Galajda (G)

Cornell has the 3rd best offense in the country at 3.86 goals per game which is also the tops in the ECAC. Trevor Yates is by far their most dangerous offensive player so far this season with 16 points including 10 goals with 4 of them coming by way of the power play along with 2 game winning goals. He is a player that Quinnipiac cannot let have his way against them. Three other plays are in double figures in points in Jeff Malott (14 points), Alex Rauter (12 points) and Morgan Barron (12 points). Other players of note that can hurt Quinnipiac are Anthony Angello (11 points) and Mitch Vanderlaan (7 points). Cornell also has a solid power play at 21% (14-of-67) which is 20th nationally. Both Yates and Alec McCrea lead the team with 4 power play goals apiece.

The Cornell defense is a major strength for Mike Schafer's team. They give up 1.79 goals allowed per game which is second nationally only behind Clarkson (1.35 goals allowed per game). Brendan Smith (plus 17) and Alec McCrea (plus 12) have been defensive cogs for the Big Red. Sophomore Yanni Kaldis has been his solid self and freshman Alex Green has 6 points and is a plus 7. They play very sound as a unit and don't make a ton of mistakes. The Big Red penalty kill is pretty solid at 80.7% (46-of-57) good for 32nd nationally and with the Quinnipiac power play not very good this area would favor Cornell in my opinion.

Freshman Matthew Galajda has gotten the bulk of the work load in the first half going 8-2 with a 2.10 goals against and a .910 save percentage. He was strong in his prior match-up with Quinnipiac making 28 saves in a 2-1 win in Hamden in early November. His backup, senior Hayden Stewart given Cornell some strong play and has started the past three games for the Big Red. He is 4-0 with a 1.01 goals against average and a .956 save percentage. With the way he has played in the last three games, it looking like he is the one who will face Quinnipiac.

This game will be a challenge for Quinnipiac as Cornell is one of the hottest teams in the country playing at home where they have been strong all season long. With the way both teams have played this year getting a single point tonight would be impressive but a win would be a major surprise and big for the confidence of the team in the second half.

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Quinnipiac survives with 4-3 overtime win over Colgate

Quinnipiac at Colgate (photo copyright BobcatsHockeyBlog)

The Quinnipiac Bobcats blew a 3-1 lead in the final minute, but senior Bo Pieper scored 22 seconds into overtime to come away with a 4-3 win over the Colgate Raiders at Class of 1965 Arena on Friday night in Hamilton, New York. With the win, Quinnipiac improves to 8-10-2 (4-5-10 ECAC) and are tied for 5th in the ECAC standings with Colgate though the Raiders have three games in hand on Quinnipiac. 

The home team broke the ice first scoring 14:38 into the opening frame on a power play goal by Adam Duada in which Quinnipiac goaltender Andrew Shortridge (20 saves) was screened in front. The teams were more or less even in the first period and Quinnipiac's best chance was late when Landon Smith's back-handed attempt was stoned by Zac Hamilton who was filling in for Colton Point who won a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships. 

Just 45 seconds into the second period Quinnipiac found the back of the net when Tanner MacMaster's fed a soft back-handed pass to Odeen Tufto who was racing into the slot where he buried his 4th goal of the season. A little under five minutes later sophomore Alex Whelan gave the Bobcats a lead on a re-direct from John Furgele's shot in which there was a load of traffic in front of Hamilton. Whelan struck again just under 3 minutes later when he sent a shot through traffic that found the back of the net for his team leading 9th goal of the season. 

Quinnipiac at Colgate (photo copyright BobcatsHockeyBlog)

In the third period with the Bobcats holding a two goal lead, the teams traded six penalties in the period though neither could team found the back of the net. Just when it looked like Quinnipiac had the game sealed in the final minute, Colgate's Nick Austin scored to trim the Bobcats to one with an extra attacker goal. With just 13 seconds left Colgate's Adam Duada's found a loose puck in front of Shortridge and quickly put it past him for his second goal of the game to tie the score at three. 22 seconds into overtime Brogan Rafferty shot was re-directed by Pieper past Hamilton giving Quinnipiac a much needed victory.

The Bobcats out shot Colgate 30-23 and both Alex Whelan (2 goals) and John Furgele (2 assists) had multi-point games. Quinnipiac returns to action on Saturday night when they travel to Ithaca, New York to face the Cornell Big Red who are fresh off a 7-1 win over Princeton. 

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Scouting the Enemy: Colgate Raiders

Quinnipiac heads on the road again this time to upstate New York for the Colgate/Cornell swing starting with #17 Colgate on Friday night. The Bobcats are coming off a 3-0 win over UConn in Hartford on Tuesday night which was their first win since November 28th when they beat Princeton 6-2. Colgate is slumping a bit going 2-4 in their last six games after a 6-2-4 start. Complicating things for the Raiders will be the fact that their most important player, Colton Point, will not be available as he is playing for Canada in the 2018 World Junior Championships. Quinnipiac lost last time to Colgate, 4-1 back in early November which was the start of their downward spiral in the first half. With the way Colgate has played lately and no Colton Point this game would seem to favor Quinnipiac even if its on the road. 

Colgate Key Players: Bobby McMann (F), John Snodgrass (F), Adam Dauda (F), Jared Cockrell (F), Nick Austin (D), Willie Brooks (D), Colton Point (G) (with Team Canada)

Colgate has struggled a bit offensively this season to a tune of 2.44 goals per game (48th nationally). It's obvious the defense and Colton Point have covered up for the offense which has gotten this team to a solid start this year. Bobby McMann had a really good first half of the season with 17 points with John Snodgrass (11 points) being the next best scorer for the Raiders. Adam Dauda (10 points) and Jared Cockrell (9 points) also pace the Colgate offense. The power play has improved a bit since the last time these teams met but its still not very good at 13.7% (10-of-73) which is 52nd nationally. Quinnipiac has a much improved penalty kill at 84.2% (64-of-76) good for 14th nationally. The Bobcats did take too many penalties (7) against UConn on Tuesday so that will need to cleaned up before Friday's game.

The Colgate defense has been a strength this season yielding 2.28 goals per games (tied for 7th nationally with Northeastern). However without Colton Point behind them have given up 10 goals in two games played. That will happen again on Friday with Point in Buffalo for the World Juniors. in the game's that Colton Point has started yielding just 8 goals in 7 games. Willie Brooks and Nick Austin have played well on defense and they are getting great freshman play from Trevor Cosgrove (4 points, plus 7). The key is how this defense is going to fare without Colton Point protecting them at times. They have a solid penalty kill at 80.26% (61-of-76) good for 34th nationally. Quinnipiac's power play has been non existent this year so this should favor the Raiders in this category.

As we said earlier, Quinnipiac catches a huge break with Colton Point playing for Team Canada at the 2018 World Junior Championships. He was a strong in the November 4th, 4-1 win at Quinnipiac with 33 saves. With their most important player unavailable, the Raiders will have to turn to either seniors Bruce Racine or Zac Hamilton neither who have fared well in either of their one game played each this year against the University of New Hampshire when Colgate gave up 10 goals on the weekend.

This is a great opportunity for Quinnipiac to continue to build momentum from Tuesday's win over UConn and get some much needed ECAC points over a solid team. The Bobcats have played better on the road this season with four of their seven wins coming away from Hamden so a little road bonding might be good for this team as they try to flip the script in the second half of the season.

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Quinnipiac opens second half with shutout of UConn

Quinnipiac at UConn (photo copyright BobcatsHockeyBlog)

The Quinnipiac Bobcats opened the second half of the season with a 3-0 win on Tuesday night against the University of Connecticut in a non conference match-up at the XL Center in Hartford. It was the first win for Quinnipiac since a 6-2 win on the road against Princeton on November 28, 2017. After closing out the first half of the season with back to back losses against Maine to finish at 6-10-2, Quinnipiac showed a renewed effort as they look to turn their season around with the calendar turning to 2018.

Quinnipiac got strong goal-tending in net from sophomore Andrew Shortridge who recorded his 4th shutout of the season."Starting out with a big win like that with a good battle at the start, it was huge boost for our confidence, said Shortridge after his 21 save performance. We can really use that as a momentum builder". 

The Bobcats got on the board just over six minutes into the opening frame when Alex Whelan cleaned up a rebound in front of UConn goaltender Adam Huska off a Kevin Duane shot from the half wall. It was the 7th goal of the season for Whelan putting him one goal behind team leader Tanner MacMaster who has 8.

Brogran Rafferty, center (photo copyright BobcatsHockeyBlog)

The teams went scoreless in the middle frame but Shortridge came up big with some saves late in the second period to preserve the lead. "The boys were great in front me tonight. The defenseman were great at retrieving pucks in front of me along with pushing a lot of the play to the outside. We had a lot of one and done opportunities which helped to control rebounds and the forwards blocked shots", said Shortridge.

Quinnipiac scored on another rebound six and half minutes into the third period when Bo Pieper found the puck come to his stick in the high slot and buried a one timer past Huska for the goal. The Bobcats sealed the win in the final minute on an empty net goal by Kevin McKernan. Quinnipiac out shot UConn 27-21 for the game and blocked 17 UConn shots. Quinnipiac showed some strong grit and hustle tonight and capitalized on rebound chances and had a solid fore-check.

"It was a good win but we didn't play our best game, said Rand Pecknold. We we were rusty in the first period. We battled and Shortridge was our best player tonight". Quinnipiac improves to 7-10-2 on the season and now will head to Colgate and Cornell this week as they head back into ECAC play. "We still have to clean some things up and get ready for our next game but I am happy to get the win", added Pecknold.

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In the Pipeline: 1/1/2018

We're back. After a week off due to the Christmas holiday, many junior, midget and prep programs have returned to action as the calendar has turned to 2018. It was a light week of action with not everyone back in full game action yet. Quinnipiac over the break also picked up three new commits in Jack Silich, Desi Burgart and T.J. Friedmann. The second half of the season opens for Quinnipiac tomorrow against the UConn Huskies at the XL Center followed by a pair of games this weekend against Colgate and Cornell.

Michael Lombardi (photo by Lorne White/KelownaNow

BCHL Commits

Michael Lombardi had a goal and an assist this weekend for the West Kelowna Warriors who dropped a pair of games against the Trail Smoke Eaters. In 36 games played this season, Lombardi has 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists). However his production since coming to West Kelowna in a trade is more impressive with 19 points in 23 games played.

USHL commits

Wyatt Bongiovanni had one assist in Muskegon's 6-3 win over the Chicago Steel on Sunday. In 25 games played this season, Bongiovanni has 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) with 3 power play goals, 1 shorthanded goal and 2 game winning goals.

William Fällström potted a goal and an assist but his Fargo Force team lost all three games this weekend in USHL play. On the season, the Sweden native has 18 points (6 goals, 12 assists) in 26 games played.

Zach Metsa picked up one assist in three games played over the weekend for the Youngstown Phantoms as they lost all three games. The Phantoms defense struggled all weekend and Metsa finished a minus 6 for the weekend. In 25 games played this season he has 12 points (1 goal, 11 assists) and a minus 15 rating.

Justin Robbins picked up his second win of the season for the Chicago Steel with a 23 save effort in a 4-2 win over the Dubuque Fighting Saints. On the season Robbins is 2-3 with a 4.35 goals against average and a .866 save percentage.

Prep Schools

John Campomenosi has 8 points (2 goals, 6 assists) for the Don Bosco Prep (NJ) in 12 games played this season. The 2000 born defenseman will need some junior seasoning for the next couple of seasons before heading to Hamden.

AJHL Commits

Matt Cassidy had a one assist in 2 games played over the weekend. In 29 games played this season he has 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists). He has a game today against the Canmore Eagles.

Midget Commits

Jacob Quillan had a 2 assist game on Saturday for the Steele Subaru Major Midgets. On the season, Quillan leads the team in scoring with 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 27 games played. He is expected to come to the United States next season to play prep hockey in the New England region.

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Scouting the Enemy: Connecticut Huskies

The second half of the 2017-2018 season begins with Quinnipiac in an unfamiliar position being four games under .500 with a 6-10-2 record after the first half of the season. Not much went right for Quinnipiac after a 3-1-1 start as the offense could not find any consistency with the team lacking a lot of scoring with their forwards. This has caused the defense to try to pick up some offensive slack causing defensive lapses which is putting more pressure of the goaltenders.  The Bobcats open the second half of the season with three games this week starting with the Connecticut Huskies on Tuesday night. UConn has won 5 of its last 7 games and has wins over Northeastern, Maine, UMass and Colgate this season. They come into this game with a record of 8-12-2

UConn Key Players: Maxim Letunov (F), Alexander Payusov (F), Jesse Schwartz (F), Karl El-Mir (F), Benjamin Freeman (F), Johnny Austin (D), Miles Gendron (D), Philip Nyberg (D), Joseph Masonius (D), Adam Huska (G)

UConn is a team that has also had some inconsistencies on offense. Offensively they are tied for 39th in the country with Minnesota in goals per game at 2.73. Eight times this season they have put four or more goals in during a game. The problem is the consistency just isn't there from game to game much like Quinnipiac. Maxim Letunov is by far the best player for the Connecticut Huskies. He exploded on the scene in 2015-16 with 40 points as a freshman and has 19 points in 22 games this season. Alexander Payusov has 9 goals (14 points) and Jesse Schwartz has 7 goals (11 points) as the two leading goal scorers for the Huskies. Senior defenseman Johnny Austin has 16 points as the teams second leading scorer. The Huskies power play is something to watch out for as they are 20th nationally at 21.05% (20-of-95). Staying disciplined is a must for Quinnipiac. UConn is also a better face-off team than Quinnipiac so it will be important for the Bobcats to win key face-offs especially in their own defensive zone.

Defensively UConn has been about average this season giving up 2.82 goals per game good for 26th nationally. There have been games where they have looked good giving up very few goals and other games where they have gotten their doors blown off. If the UConn defense of the past 8 games shows up then it could give a lot of problem for Quinnipiac. The Huskies have some talent back on the blue line including three NHL draft picks in Miles Gendron, Joseph Masonius and Phillip Nyberg. They have good veteran experience in captains David Drake and Derek Pratt along with fellow senior Johnny Austin. The size of the Huskies blue line is impressive with the majority of the players 6'2 or above. The penalty kill is solid at 80.22% (73-of-91) which good for 36th nationally.

Goaltender Adam Huska has been solid this season. The 2015 7th round pick of the New York Rangers has played in every game this season for Huskies. He has been very strong in the last 8 games giving up on 13 goals. The 6'3, 200 pound Slovakian born goaltender is a big, athletic and highly competitive goaltender who has represented his country in the World Junior Championships in 2015 and 2016. He will provide another tough challenge to a Quinnipiac offense that has not been able to score much this season.

This is a tough stretch of games for Quinnipiac with their next seven away from Hamden with tough road games against Colgate, Cornell and Harvard in this stretch. The stretch of games on the road will tell us a lot of where this team will go in the second half of the season and if we can expect a turnaround from its first half struggles.

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