No. 10 Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Rolls To 5-2 ECAC Hockey Win At No. 16 Harvard

Friday, February 27

Bright Hockey Center - Cambridge, Mass.

7:30 pm

Quinnipiac University

Harvard

No. 10 Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Rolls To 5-2 ECAC Hockey Win At No. 16 Harvard

2/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

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CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – Nationally-ranked No. 10 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey defeated No. 16 Harvard, 5-2, in an ECAC Hockey match-up at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Quinnipiac ran its winning streak against league teams to 13 games (10-0-3) while it improves to 21-8-4 overall and 16-2-3 in ECAC Hockey play.

The Bobcats' 5-2 triumph gave them their first win in Cambridge since Dec. 8, 2010. Harvard dropped to 14-11-3 overall and 10-8-3 in ECAC Hockey play. In addition, the Bobcats now own the longest unbeaten streak in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey at nine games, posting a 6-0-3 record in that span. With a loss by St. Lawrence and the Bobcats' win, Quinnipiac now wins the Cleary Cup for the ECAC Hockey Regular Season Championship, outright.

For Quinnipiac, Sam Anas (Potomac, Maryland) had his sixth two-goal game of the season to lead an offensive attack that featured five Bobcats with two points. Devon Toews (Abbotsford, British Columbia) had a goal and an assist while Travis St. Denis (Trail, British Columbia), Derek Smith (Apple Valley, Minnesota) and Matthew Peca (Petawawa, Ontario) both dished out two assists each. Landon Smith (Greenwood Village, Colorado) and Tanner MacMaster (Calgary, Alberta) both scored for Quinnipiac as well. In goal, Michael Garteig (Prince George, British Columbia) improved to 20-6-3 with a 24-save outing against Harvard.

Landon Smith put Quinnipiac on the board with his 15^th goal of the season on Quinnipiac's first power play of the game. Peca handled the puck in the face-off circle to the left of the Harvard goal before stepping between the face-off circles. Drawing a defender, Peca placed the puck on St. Denis' stick who fired on goal. Harvard's Steve Michelak denied St. Denis but Smith, who was screening the Crimson's goalie, picked up the rebound and slid it between Michelak's pads to put Quinnipiac on top, 1-0.

Less than two minutes later Anas deposited his team-leading 18^th goal of the year off a rebound to give Quinnipiac a 2-0 lead. St. Denis picked up his second point of the night after sending the puck across ice to Toews at the point. Toews bombed a shot from the point that missed Michelak's glove and banged off the post. Anas, crashing the net, picked up the rebound, walked across the crease and flipped the puck past Michelak, with the backhand, to give Quinnipiac a two-goal lead.

Toews made it 3-0 with his fourth goal of the season. Alex Barron took a pass from Toews along the boards before centering a pass to Derek Smith (Apple Valley, Minnesota) in the slot. Smith, drawing two defenders, tipped the puck back out to Toews at the point who blasted a shot that once-again beat Michelak, but was able to find the back of the net to give Quinnipiac a 3-0 lead.

With less than a minute to play in the period, Harvard leading scorer Jimmy Vesey scored his team-best 21^st goal of the year on the power play to cut Quinnipiac's lead to 3-1. Vesey's goal with a man-advantage was the first power play goal allowed by Quinnipiac in seven games.

Late in the second period, Anas scored his second goal of the night for his sixth multiple-goal game of the season. Anas carried the puck through the offensive zone before passing it out to Justin Agosta (East Meadow, New York) at the point. Agosta then centered a pass to Derek Smith between the face-off circle who hammered a one-timer on goal. Anas was waiting just above the crease to re-direct it with a tip to give Quinnipiac a 4-1 lead.

MacMaster got on the board to give Quinnipiac a 5-1 lead with his fifth goal of the season. The freshman wing found himself on the end of a 2-on-1 breakaway with Peca who skated deep, pulled a defender with him and got Michelak to commit before handing the puck to MacMaster on the doorstep.

Harvard's Sean Malone pulled the Crimson within three goals with his sixth marker of the with 13 minutes to play in regulation.

Quinnipiac will play its final regular-season game of the 2014-15 season on Saturday, Feb. 28 when it travels to Hanover, New Hampshire to take Dartmouth at Thompson Arena at 7 p.m. The Bobcats will return to action when it hosts an ECAC Hockey Best-of-Three Quarterfinals Series on Mar. 13-15 at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center.