#10/11 Bobcats Set for #5/6 Minnesota State in NCAA Tournament First Round

Saturday, March 27

Loveland, Colo. / Budweiser Events Center

5:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM MT

Quinnipiac University

Minnesota State

Men's Hockey Regional Huddle After Practice

#10/11 Bobcats Set for #5/6 Minnesota State in NCAA Tournament First Round

3/26/2021 9:09:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Bobcats to Battle Mavericks in West Regional in Loveland, Colorado Saturday

By: QU Athletic Communications

#10/11 Quinnipiac Bobcats (17-7-4, 10-4-4 ECAC Hockey) vs.
#5/6 Minnesota State (20-4-1, 13-1-0 WCHA)
NCAA Tournament West Regional - First Round
Saturday, March 27 | 5 PM ET/3 PM MT
Budweiser Events Center | Loveland, Colo.
All-Time Series vs. Minnesota State: First Meeting

WATCH (ESPN3) | WATCH (Canada) | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES | @QU_MIH

HAMDEN, Conn. – The No. 10/11 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team is back in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history as they will take on the No. 5/6 Minnesota State Mavericks in the first round of the NCAA West Regional Saturday night.

Last Time Out
Quinnipiac fell in overtime in the ECAC Hockey Championship game Saturday night, 3-2, to the St. Lawrence Saints. It was the first time Quinnipiac had been in the league championship game since the 2015-16 season. Odeen Tufto and Wyatt Bongiovanni scored goals 12 seconds apart in the second period but St. Lawrence scored goal in the third period and overtime to clinch the title.

Scouting Minnesota State
The Mavericks enter the NCAA Tournament with a 20-4-1 record in 25 games. They took a four-game winning streak into the WCHA semifinals before falling to Northern Michigan. Minnesota State had a separate eight game winning streak and nine-game unbeaten streak earlier this season. Quinnipiac and Minnesota had one mutual opponent, Bowling Green, who the Mavericks swept. Julian Napravnik leads the Mavericks with 10 goals and 25 points while Nathan Smith is tops with 16 assists. Four different players have recorded more than 20 points this season. Goaltender Dryden McKay has been one of the best goaltenders in the nation with a 19-3-0 record and nation-leading nine shutouts to go with a 1.40 GAA and .930 save percentage.

All-Time vs. Minnesota State
This is the first meeting between Quinnipiac and Minnesota State.

Quinnipiac in the NCAA Tournament
Quinnipiac is in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history, and sixth time in the past eight tournaments. The last time Quinnipiac was in the NCAA Tournament, the Bobcats defeated Arizona State before falling to eventual national champion Minnesota Duluth in the Midwest Regional Final in 2019. Quinnipiac is 7-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

Cleary Cup Champions
The Bobcats won the Cleary Cup as ECAC Hockey Regular Season Champions for the fifth time in the past nine seasons after going 10-4-4 in league play. Quinnipiac has clinch the Cleary Cup in two of the last three seasons.

Hobey Baker Finalists
Odeen Tufto and Keith Petruzzelli were named Top Ten Finalists for the 2021 Hobey Baker Award. Tufto and Petruzzelli are the first pair of finalists for the Hobey Baker Award in the same season for the Bobcats, and the fourth and fifth finalists in program history after Reid Cashman '07 in 2004-05, Eric Hartzell '13 in 2012-13 and Chase Priskie '19 in 2018-19.

Mike Richter Award Finalist
Keith Petruzzelli has also been named a finalist for the Mike Richter Award, presented annually to the nation's top goaltender. Petruzzelli has been sharp all year long, and ranked among the nation's top goaltenders in nearly every statistical category.

ECAC Hockey Player of the Year
Odeen Tufto was named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Year, his first postseason major award. Tufto is Quinnipiac's first league player of the year since Hartzell won in in 2012-13, and the first skater to win ECAC Hockey Player of the Year. Cashman was the last Quinnipiac skater to win a player of the year award as took the honor in Quinnipiac's final season in Atlantic Hockey in 2004-05.

ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year
Keith Petruzzelli took home the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year honors for the first time in his career this season for his first postseason award. Petruzzelli is the third Quinnipiac goaltender to win the league goaltender of the year award, joining Hartzell in 2012-13 and Andrew Shortridge in 2018-19. Adding in Jamie Holden '05 with the Atlantic Hockey Goaltending Award, we've won four goaltending awards in program history.

ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year
Head coach Rand Pecknold was named the ECAC Hockey Tim Taylor Coach of the Year for the third time in his career. It was also the fourth league coach of the year award in his career after taking home the honor in Atlantic Hockey in 2004-05.

First Team All-League
The Bobcats placed three players on the ECAC Hockey First Team for the first time in program history, as Tufto, Petruzzelli and Metsa all earned first team honors. It was each of their first times named to the First Team, and for Tufto it capped off a four-year run as an All-League selection after he was named to the All-Rookie Team in 2017-18 and had back-to-back Second Team selections in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

All-Rookie Team
First year Ty Smilanic was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team after leading the nation with 14 goals. Smilanic was one of the most dominant scorers not just in the league but in the nation. He is Quinnipiac's 10^th ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team selection, and fourth in the last four years. The Bobcats have had 21 All-Rookie Team selections since joining the Division I ranks as members of the MAAC Hockey League followed by Atlantic Hockey.

Team Rankings
Quinnipiac has been one of the top teams in the nation statistically in 2020-21 as the Bobcats are fifth with 97 goals and sixth in goals allowed at 1.96 per game. Quinnipiac is also the only team in the nation to rank in the top five of both power play and penalty kill, as the Bobcats' power play is at 25 percent this season while the penalty kill is 88.6 percent.

Junior Class
Quinnipiac's junior class has been among the best in the nation as the Class of 2022 leads the nation with 48 goals, 119 points, 4.25 points per game, 19 power-play goals, 25 power-play assists and 44 power-play points. Quinnipiac's Class of 2022 has been among the best of that class in the nation in each of their three seasons of college hockey.

Chasing Records
In the Bobcats penultimate game of the 2020-21 season, Tufto set the program record with his 126^th career assist to break the previous record held by Reid Cashman '07. Tufto has added two more assists since breaking the record to bring his total to 128. He is also closing in the on the Division I program scoring record as his 166 points are just three away from tying the record of 169 held by Bryan Leitch '09 and Brian Herbert '03.

Tufto Beat
Tufto has been one of the top playmakers in the nation in 2020-21 as the Bobcats' senior captain leads the country with 38 assists and ranks second with 45 points. He is also the nation's leader with 20 power-play assists, 22 power-play points, and 1.36 assists per game. He is second in the nation with 368 faceoff wins and a .636 faceoff percentage. Tufto has recorded points in seven straight games heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Runnin' on Petro
Petruzzelli continues to dominant the paint for the Bobcats as he owns the fourth-most wins and shutouts in the nation with 17 and four, respectively. He also ranks in the top 10 with a .927 save percentage while his 1.82 GAA is sixth in the nation. He has allowed two goals or fewer in 21 of his 28 starts this season, and has made 62 consecutive starts for the Bobcats.

de Jong and the Restless
Ethan de Jong has been one of the Bobcats most dominant players in 2020-21 as he is tied for first on the team and eighth in the nation with 14 goals while his 29 points are tied for 14^th in the nation. Both are career-highs.

de Jong has picked up points in seven straight games heading into the NCAA Tournament and 11 of his last 12 games.

Metsa World Peace
Zach Metsa has been among the nation's top defensemen this nation as he leads the country with 21 assists and 26 points while his five goals are sixth among defensemen. He as recorded points in seven of the last eight games as the blueliner has career-highs in goals, assists and points.

Homecoming for Ty
Rookie Ty Smilanic has had an impressive first season in the blue and gold for the Bobcats as he is tied for first on the team and eighth in the nation with 14 goals. He has chipped in seven assists for the Bobcats to give him 21 points, one of eight rookies in the nation with at least 21 points.

Dilly Dilly
Junior defenseman Peter DiLiberatore has joined Metsa as one of the highest scoring defenseman duos in the nation. DiLiberatore is tied for 10^th among the nation's d-men with 19 points while his five power-play goals are tied for the most. DiLiberatore had a five-game point streak from Feb. 13-March 5 for his longest point streak of the season.

Burgart King
Desi Burgart has provided some invaluable depth scoring for the Bobcats this season with a career-high 10 goals and 16 points for the Bobcats. He is tied for 42^nd in the nation with 10 goals, and has more goals and points this season than his first two seasons combined.

Lombomania
Michael Lombardi had a red-hot February for the Bobcats as he record points in seven of eight games from Feb. 5-March 5 to boost his scoring to five goals and 10 assists for 15 points. Lombardi's 15 points are more than he had in his first two seasons in the blue and gold (14).

Van Goal
Guus van Nes had an impressive 2020-21 as he piled up 12 assists to go with two goals for 14 points after just five as a first year in 2019-20. van Nes has played in all 28 games this season for the Bobcats.

Just Bein' Brindy
Skyler Brind'Amour had another solid season for the Bobcats as a sophomore as he tied his career-high with nine assists and is two points shy of his 2019-20 with 13 points. Brind'Amour has been solid at the faceoff dot, winning 54.1 percent of his draws.

Fillin' It Up
Christophe Fillion joined the Bobcats squad a few games into the season and his made an immediate impact, chipping in six goals and adding four assists for 10 points. Fillion was one of just six rookies in ECAC Hockey to record at least 10 points.

Bonjo's Back
Wyatt Bongiovanni returned to the lineup for the Bobcats after missing nearly three months and picked up right where he left off, recording a goal in the ECAC Hockey Championship game. Bongiovanni has recorded goals in the last two games that he has played, and five of his total eight games in 2020-21.