No. 18 QU Men's Ice Hockey Tops Holy Cross, 5-3

Friday, October 9

Worcester, MA // Hart Recreation Center

7:06 PM

Quinnipiac University

1-0-0

Holy Cross

0-1-0

Quinnipiac

Holy Cross

10/9/2015 9:34:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

Anas Has Three-Point Night In Season-Opening Win

By: QU Sports Information

WORCESTER, Massachusetts – Nationally-ranked No. 18 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey defeated Holy Cross, 5-3, in a non-conference match-up in Worcester, Massachusetts. The win puts Quinnipiac at 1-0-0 to start the year while the Crusaders open the season at 0-1-0.

Sam Anas (Potomac, Maryland) scored twice and assisted on another while Travis St. Denis (Trail, British Columbia) and Devon Toews (Abbotsford, British Columbia) had two assists each. Landon Smith (Greenwood Village, Colorado) had a goal and an assist while Bo Pieper (Roseville, Minnesota) and Tim Clifton (Matawan, New Jersey) also scored for Quinnipiac. Freshman Chase Priskie (Pembroke Plains, Florida) had an assist on Clifton's goal for his first career point.

Holy Cross took an early lead when Mike Barrett bounced the puck off the half boards, stepped around a Quinnipiac defender and picked it up to the left of Bobcats' goalie Michael Garteig. Barrett then rifled a pass across Quinnipiac's defensive zone to Scott Pooley camped out on the opposite post for the back-door re-direct behind Garteig to give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead less than a minute-and-a-half into regulation.

Quinnipiac responded three minutes later when Travis St. Denis (Trail, British Columbia) won a face-off in the Holy Cross end, spitting the puck back to Anas. Anas' one-time bomb from the point found space over Crusaders' goalie Paul Berrafato's right shoulder to knot the game at 1-1.

Anas scored his second of the night to give Quinnipiac a 2-1 lead early in the 2^nd period, this one coming on the power play. Quinnipiac was 2-for-5 in the second period on the power play that also saw goals from Pieper and Landon Smith as the Bobcats grabbed a 4-3 lead after the second frame.

Anas' marker was the result of a shot by Toews from the point that was knocked down and picked up by Landon Smith. Smith then fed the puck across the crease to Anas who back-handed a shot in to give Quinnipiac the lead just 48 seconds into the period. Holy Cross quickly answered, scoring 11 seconds later to tie it up.

The Bobcats and Crusaders traded goals again when Toews handed the puck to K.J. Tiefenwerth (Bellmore, New York) in the corner. McKernan banged the puck off the glass, sending it up-ice to Pieper. Pieper walked it down the ice in front of the Bobcats' bench, over the blue line and then blasted a shot on Holy Cross' goal that beat Berrafato top shelf to give the Bobcats a lead. Holy Cross answered again with Matt Vidal taking a pass in the slot from Ryan Ferrill and one-timing past Garteig for the equalizer.

Landon Smith got on the board with less than two minutes to play in the period on the power play after the Crusaders were whistled for Too Many Men on the ice. St. Denis won a draw in the Crusaders' zone over to Tanner MacMaster (Calgary, Alberta) on the boards. MacMaster fed it back to St. Denis in the slot who ripped a pass to Smith on the doorstep. Smith deposited his first goal of the year, five-hole, to give the Bobcats a 4-3 lead heading into the second intermission.

Late in the third, Clifton scored to push Quinnipiac's lead to two goals, 5-3, with seven minutes to play. Anas stole a pass in the corner and spun to throw it back to the slot. It tipped off a stick and landed on Priskie's blade, who fed Clifton for the first-year Bobcats' first career point.

Quinnipiac and Holy Cross meet for the second game of their home-and-home series on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 4 p.m. at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn.