No. 15 QU Men's Ice Hockey Defeats Dartmouth, 4-2

Saturday, January 7

Thompson Arena // Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

12-9-2, 7-5-1

Dartmouth

5-7-3, 2-4-2

Quinnipiac

Dartmouth

1/7/2017 8:59:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

HANOVER, New Hampshire – Nationally-ranked No. 15 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey defeated Dartmouth, 4-2, in an ECAC Hockey match-up at Thompson Arena in Hanover, New Hampshire. With the win, Quinnipiac improves to 12-9-2 overall and 7-5-1 in ECAC Hockey while Dartmouth drops to 5-7-3 overall and 2-4-2 in league play.

Alex Whelan (Ramsey, New Jersey) scored his first career goal to put Quinnipiac on the board, while the Bobcats also received goals from Kevin Duane (New Canaan, Connecticut), Craig Martin (Trail, British Columbia) and Kevin McKernan (Millbury, Massachusetts). Martin also added two assists for a career-best three-point net while K.J. Tiefenwerth (Bellmore, New York) added two assists as well. Freshman goalie Andrew Shortridge (Alaska, Anchorage) stopped 34 of Dartmouth's 36 shots-on-goal to pick up his third win of the season in his first start since the end of November. Shortridge held Dartmouth scoreless through the first two periods before Dartmouth scored on a breakaway and on a six-on-four power play late in regulation.

Whelan gave Quinnipiac the lead late in the first period on a play set-up by Tommy Schutt (Chanhassen, Minnesota). Schutt picked up the puck above the blue line in the Bobcats' defensive zone and took-off down ice, carrying the puck deep in the Dartmouth zone. Holding the puck along the boards, he fed Derek Smith (Apple Valley, Minnesota) at the blue line before Smith sent the puck into the corner for Whelan. Whelan stepped over the goal line and wheeled to his right, firing on Dartmouth goalie Devin Buffalo. The puck found its way under Buffalo's arm, tucking just inside the near-side post.

Quinnipiac jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Kevin Duane's (New Canaan, Connecticut) fourth goal of the year, with assists going to Landon Smith (Greenwood Village, Colorado) and Craig Martin (Trail, British Columbia). Martin took control of the puck deep in the Bobcats' zone and popped it up the boards to Smith, who carried the puck down the ice before handing it to Duane on the breakaway. Duane now has four goals and three assists for the year, all coming in the last eight games while Landon Smith now has a goal and seven assists in his last eight games.

Shortridge was rock-solid through the first two periods, but had not been challenged by Dartmouth before a pair of Grade-A opportunities laste in the second frame. Dartmouth freshman Daniel Warpecha, the Big Green's leading goal scorer, had a look with the Big Green playing short-handed. Warpecha took a pass from Michalowski from the wing that found Warpecha's tape in the slot but Shortridge was able to kick it away. Moments later, Josh Hartley picked up a loose puck that range off the boards behind Shortridge, but his blast from the face-off circle was also stopped by Shortridge to keep Dartmouth off the scoreboard.

Less than a minute into the third period, Quinnipiac potted its sixth power-play goal in the last four games when Martin teed-up a pass from Brogan Rafferty (Dundee, Illinois) that beat Buffalo to give the Bobcats a 3-0 lead. K.J. Tiefenwerth (Bellmore, New York) handed the puck to Rafferty in the corner, who zipped a pass across along the boards to Martin at the point, who bombed a shot on goal through traffic that beat Dartmouth's goalie top-shelf as Quinnipiac jumped out to a three-goal lead.

With just under 10 minutes to play in regulation, Dartmouth was whistled for a penalty with 10 seconds left on a power play. Skating four-on-four, Dartmouth's Cam Strong surprised the Bobcat line-up, jumping behind the Quinnipiac defense for a break-away where he beat Shortridge to cut the Bobcats' lead to 3-1.
Quinnipiac scored with less than two minutes to play when Kevin McKernan (Millbury, Connecticut) scored on an empty net to give the Bobcats a 4-1 lead.

The Bobcats return to action on Friday, Jan. 13 when they host Colgate for an ECAC Hockey match-up at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center available live on SNY at 7 p.m. Quinnipiac will then host Cornell on Saturday, Jan. 14, also at 7 p.m.