No. 2 Cornell Advances To ECAC Semifinals with 2-0 Win Over QU Men's Ice Hockey

Saturday, March 10

Ithaca, NY

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

16-18-4

Cornell University

25-4-2

Quinnipiac

Cornell

No. 2 Cornell Advances To ECAC Semifinals with 2-0 Win Over QU Men's Ice Hockey

3/10/2018 7:48:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: QU Athletic Communications

ITHACA, N.Y.. – The Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team had a 60-31 advantage in shot attempts, including 18-3 in the first period, but were unable to get one past Cornell freshman goalkeeper Matthew Galajda (22 saves) as the second-ranked Big Red defeated the Bobcats 2-0 in the 2018 ECAC Hockey Championship Quarterfinal series on Saturday night at Lynah Rink, completing a 2-0 series sweep. Cornell improves to 25-4-2 and moves on to the ECAC Championship weekend in Lake Placid, where they will face Princeton on Friday, while the Bobcats see their season come to a close at 16-18-4.

SCORE
Cornell 2 | Quinnipiac 0

RECORDS
Quinnipiac 16-18-4 | Cornell 25-4-2

LOCATION
Lynah Rink | Ithaca, N.Y.

SCORING SUMMARY

2:01, 2nd (Cornell 1, Quinnipiac 0): Alex Rauter from Kyle Betts and Tristan Mullin. Betts took an initial shot that was kicked away by Keith Petruzzelli, and Rauter followed the rebound and buried it through a screen.
8:46, 3rd (Cornell 2, Quinnipiac 0): Mitch Vanderlaan from Kyle Betts and Alex Rauter. A turnover in the defensive end led to a delayed penalty and left captain Mitch Vanderlaan wide open at the hash marks, where he snapped his third goal in two games past Petruzzelli.

NOTES

Quinnipiac dominated play in a scoreless first period, tallying 18 shot attempts to Cornell's three, with an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal.
Freshman goalie Keith Petruzzelli had only one save in the first quarter, but it was a key one, denying a good chance from the slot on a rush up ice from Anthony Angello with just over five minutes on the first-period clock.
Quinnipiac closed out the first period by killing a Cornell power play in the last two minutes without allowing a shot attempt. In fact, the Bobcats had the only shot during the two-minute minor, with junior defenseman Brandon Fortunato's bid for a shorthanded goal saved by Cornell goalie Matthew Galajda.
Alex Rauter's first goal of the game for Cornell came at the 2:01 mark of the second period, after Galajda denied two strong chances for Quinnipiac senior forward Tanner MacMaster on the first shift, the first coming on a backhand on a rush up ice, and the second coming on a rising wrist shot headed for the top-right corner.
Cornell successfully killed off a five-minute major penalty for hitting from behind just 1:20 into the third period, preventing the Bobcats from tying the score. Just 2:26 after the penalty ended, the Big Red extended the lead to 2-0 on Mitch Vanderlaan's goal.
Cornell took a second five-minute penalty with 3:29 in the game and were forced to play the rest of the way 6-on-4 after the Bobcats pulled Petruzzelli, but Quinnipiac was unable to find the net.
The teams were meeting in their fifth ECAC playoff series, with the Bobcats winning three of the previous four. The last three had all gone the full three games.
Galajda allowed only one power play goal in the two-game series.
Sophomore defenseman Brogan Rafferty (pictured) and freshman forward Odeen Tufto led the Bobcats with four shots apiece.

UP NEXT
Cornell will meet Princeton in one of two ECAC Semifinals next Friday. Harvard-Dartmouth and Colgate-Clarkson will play game three of their quarterfinal series tomorrow to see who advances to the other semifinal.