QU Men's Ice Hockey Takes Series Lead With 5-2 Win Against Cornell

Friday, March 11

Hamden, Conn.

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

26-2-7, 16-1-5ECAC

Cornell University

15-10-7, 8-8-6ECAC

Cornell

Quinnipiac

QU Men's Ice Hockey Takes Series Lead With 5-2 Win Against Cornell

3/11/2016 9:20:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut - Behind a three-point night from junior Connor Clifton (Matawan, New Jersey) and a two-goal night from Landon Smith (Greenwood Village, Colorado), the nationally-ranked No. 1 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team took the first game of its best-of-three ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal series against Cornell, 5-2, at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center.

"It was intense, I thought we had a great battle mode," head coach Rand Pecknold said. "I thought the first five minutes we were a little nervous and we struggled with details but we settled down after that. Cornell is a good hockey team, they're well coached and it was a battle out there and I thought our guys handled it well."

The Bobcats improve to 26-2-7 for the year and 30-21 all-time in the ECAC Hockey postseason as well as 7-2 in nine ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal games on their home ice. For Clifton, his three-assist night was a career best, and adds to the already impressive showing against Cornell this year after scoring the overtime game-winner at Lynah Rink on Nov. 6. Travis St. Denis (Trail, British Columbia) had a goal and two assists while Sam Anas (Potomac, Maryland) had two assists in the Bobcats' win.Thomas Aldworth (Keller, Texas) and Soren Jonzzon (Mountain View, California) added goals for Quinnipiac.

Quinnipiac goalie Michael Garteig (Prince George, British Columbia) stopped 16 of Cornell's 18 shots on goal for his 26th win of the season and 72nd of his career, tying him with Harvard's Grant Blair for 22nd all-time in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey history.

Cornell scored the game's first goal three minutes and twenty-three seconds into the first period Jake Weidner potted his fourth goal of the year on the end of a two-man rush off a feed from Eric Freschi. John Knisley started the play when he won a battle along the boards in the Bobcats defensive zone and sent the puck off the boards to Freschi who played the puck back-and-forth with Weidner.

Smith tied the game at 1-1 with his ninth goal of the season just under the nine-minute mark. Clifton picked up his first of three assists on the night when he handed the puck to St. Denis just above Cornell's blue line. St. Denis then moved the puck to Smith on the wing, who stepped around a Big Red defenseman and roofed the puck over the left shoulder of Cornell goalie Mitch Gillam to knot the score at 1-1.

St. Denis got in on the act to kick-off the second period when he scored his 19th goal of the season for his 40th point of the year. Anas fed Clifton at the point who unleashed a one-timer on net. After Gillam padded the shot away, St. Denis picked up the rebound in the slot and tipped it around the Big Red's goalie to give Quinnipiac a 2-1 lead. Aldworth scored his sixth goal of the season to give the Bobcats a 3-1 lead less than two minutes later with Connor Clifton picking up his third assist of the game.

Midway through the period, Cornell found itself on a power play which ended with Anthony Angello handing the puck to Jeff Kubiak, who scored his team-leading ninth goal of the year on a nasty snipe from the left face-off circle off the opposite post, trimming Quinnipiac's lead to 3-2.

"I thought our forwards were really good as a unit tonight," Pecknold said. "They were willing to pay the price and go to the net, they know they're going to get hacked whacked and hit, but they were tough. They went in there and got some good net-front goals."

Smith pushed the Bobcats lead back to two goals with a tip on a shot from the point by Anas. On the power play, Devon Toews (Abbotsford, British Columbia) held the puck at the point and fed St. Denis on the right wing. St. Denis touch-passed the puck to Anas in the slot, who blasted the puck on goal where Smith was able to get a stick on the shot and redirect it past Gillam to give Quinnipiac a 4-2 lead heading into the second intermission. Jonzzon scored his eighth of the year with an empty net late in the third period, with assists to K.J. Tiefenwerth (Bellmore, New York) and Kevin McKernan (Millbury, Mass.).

Quinnipiac and Cornell will hit the ice for Game 2 of their ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals Series on Saturday, Mar. 12 at 7 p.m. at High Point Solutions Arena.