Photo by: John Hassett
Men's Ice Hockey Holds Annual Banquet Saturday
4/28/2019 11:03:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Bobcats Honor the 2018-19 Senior Class and Hands Out Awards for Season
HAMDEN, Conn. – The Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team held its annual banquet Saturday night in the University Club at the People's United Center, celebrating the accomplishments of the 2018-19 season and honoring the Class of 2019 one last time.
Head coach Rand Pecknold also handed out the team awards for the 2018-19 season, highlighted by Chase Priskie (Pembroke Pines, Florida) and Andrew Shortridge (Anchorage, Alaska) sharing the Most Valuable Player Award. Peter DiLiberatore (Bedford, Nova Scotia) was the Rookie of the Year, Brogan Rafferty (Dundee, Illinois) received the Coaches' Award, Brandon Fortunato (North Hills, New York) was received the 7th Player Award and Priskie was also the recipient of the Academic Award.
Quinnipiac's Class of 2019 accumulated 97 wins over its four seasons with the Bobcats, tied for the third most by a senior class in program history. The group qualified for two NCAA Tournaments, reached the national championship game in 2016, won two Cleary Cups as ECAC Hockey Regular Season Champions and won the 2016 Whitelaw Cup as ECAC. Hockey Tournament Champions.
Priskie and Shortridge are the first co-MVPs since Connor and Kellen Jones '14 were co-MVPS in 2013-14. Priskie was among the best players in the nation as he led all defensemen with 17 goals and was fifth with 39 points. His 17 goals were the most by a defenseman since Wisconsin's Justin Schultz had 18 in 2010-11 and was just the fourth defenseman in the last 20 years to record at least 17 goals as he was named a Hobey Baker Top 10 finalist.
Priskie also received the Academic Award as he is nearing completion of his MBA in just four seasons, and accumulating a superb GPA. Priskie was a Top 10 Finalist for the Senior CLASS Award and became Quinnipiac's first Senior CLASS All-American since Jean-Marc Beaudoin in 2010.
Shortridge was among the best goaltenders in the nation as he led the country with a 1.51 GAA and .940 save percentage. His GAA was the 10th best in a season in NCAA Ice Hockey history while his save percentage was tied for 18th. Both figures were good for program records while he finished with his career with a 1.97 GAA was the 19th best in NCAA history, and third in program history.
DiLiberatore excelled in his freshman season on the way to taking home rookie of the year honors. He was second among ECAC Hockey freshmen defensemen with 19 points and tied for ninth overall in ECAC Hockey while managing to lead all rookies with a +22 plus/minus rating. He finished the season with points in five of his last seven game with a season-high five-game point streak.
Rafferty received the Coaches' Award after a stellar junior season in which he signed an NHL contract with the Vancouver Canucks. Rafferty tied his career-high with 24 points and reached the 20-assist mark for the second time in three seasons. Rafferty came on strong late in the season as he recorded points in seven of his final 14 games, totaling 12 points in that span.
Fortunato was in the midst of the best season of his career before he went down with a season-ending injury. Fortunato had career-highs with five goals, 23 assists and 28 points before missing the final 12 games of the season. Following the year, Fortunato signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators. He still finished the season second on the team in assists and fourth in points after concluding his career with a six-game point streak.
For more offseason information, continue to follow the Bobcats on Twitter and Instagram, @QU_MIH.
Head coach Rand Pecknold also handed out the team awards for the 2018-19 season, highlighted by Chase Priskie (Pembroke Pines, Florida) and Andrew Shortridge (Anchorage, Alaska) sharing the Most Valuable Player Award. Peter DiLiberatore (Bedford, Nova Scotia) was the Rookie of the Year, Brogan Rafferty (Dundee, Illinois) received the Coaches' Award, Brandon Fortunato (North Hills, New York) was received the 7th Player Award and Priskie was also the recipient of the Academic Award.
Quinnipiac's Class of 2019 accumulated 97 wins over its four seasons with the Bobcats, tied for the third most by a senior class in program history. The group qualified for two NCAA Tournaments, reached the national championship game in 2016, won two Cleary Cups as ECAC Hockey Regular Season Champions and won the 2016 Whitelaw Cup as ECAC. Hockey Tournament Champions.
Priskie and Shortridge are the first co-MVPs since Connor and Kellen Jones '14 were co-MVPS in 2013-14. Priskie was among the best players in the nation as he led all defensemen with 17 goals and was fifth with 39 points. His 17 goals were the most by a defenseman since Wisconsin's Justin Schultz had 18 in 2010-11 and was just the fourth defenseman in the last 20 years to record at least 17 goals as he was named a Hobey Baker Top 10 finalist.
Priskie also received the Academic Award as he is nearing completion of his MBA in just four seasons, and accumulating a superb GPA. Priskie was a Top 10 Finalist for the Senior CLASS Award and became Quinnipiac's first Senior CLASS All-American since Jean-Marc Beaudoin in 2010.
Shortridge was among the best goaltenders in the nation as he led the country with a 1.51 GAA and .940 save percentage. His GAA was the 10th best in a season in NCAA Ice Hockey history while his save percentage was tied for 18th. Both figures were good for program records while he finished with his career with a 1.97 GAA was the 19th best in NCAA history, and third in program history.
DiLiberatore excelled in his freshman season on the way to taking home rookie of the year honors. He was second among ECAC Hockey freshmen defensemen with 19 points and tied for ninth overall in ECAC Hockey while managing to lead all rookies with a +22 plus/minus rating. He finished the season with points in five of his last seven game with a season-high five-game point streak.
Rafferty received the Coaches' Award after a stellar junior season in which he signed an NHL contract with the Vancouver Canucks. Rafferty tied his career-high with 24 points and reached the 20-assist mark for the second time in three seasons. Rafferty came on strong late in the season as he recorded points in seven of his final 14 games, totaling 12 points in that span.
Fortunato was in the midst of the best season of his career before he went down with a season-ending injury. Fortunato had career-highs with five goals, 23 assists and 28 points before missing the final 12 games of the season. Following the year, Fortunato signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators. He still finished the season second on the team in assists and fourth in points after concluding his career with a six-game point streak.
For more offseason information, continue to follow the Bobcats on Twitter and Instagram, @QU_MIH.
Players Mentioned
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Goaltender
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