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| Hartzell in his Pens gear. |
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| Myself and the Eagle |
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| Connor Jones couldn't dent Brown's Borelli in semifinal loss. |
ECAC Championship – the weekend that wasn’t
This past weekend, the ECAC held its annual tournament in Atlantic City for the final time (thankfully) before moving it to Lake Placid, NY next year.
The four semi-finalists, Quinnipiac, Yale, Union, and Brown, would be competing for the Whitelaw Trophy presented to the winner of the tournament.
On Thursday, the annual ECAC awards were announced and Quinnipiac was the recipient of several. Rand Pecknold took home Coach of the Year honors while Eric Hartzell earned both Goaltender of the Year and Player of the Year honors. In addition, he was named to the ECAC First Team. Zach Davies took the Best Defensive Defenseman award and was named to the ECAC Third Team along with Jeremy Langlois.
The Bobcats, having clinched the Cleary Cup as the regular season champions, were looking to add another piece of hardware to their already spectacular season, and would be facing the #8 ranked Brown Bears in Friday’s first semi-final game at Boardwalk Hall. The winner of this game would face the winner of the 2nd semi-final between #3 Yale and #4 Union. There was tremendous buzz around the possibility of another matchup between Quinnipiac and Yale in the final.
However, it didn’t turn out that way. Brown came out hungrier than Quinnipiac and used a stellar performance by goaltender Anthony Borelli combined with a solid defensive performance, as well as some offensive prowess to send the Bobcats to the 3rd-place consolation game with a convincing 4-0 victory.
It was easily Quinnipiac’s worst game of the season. From the net on out, the team struggled. The usually stout Eric Hartzell gave up 4 goals and the offense just couldn’t figure out a way to get the rubber past Borelli. Defensively, the team struggled as well. At the end of the day, the better team won the game. Brown simply wanted it more.
The amazing season that the Bobcats had put together took a huge chink in the armor. All season long we heard that a league tourney championship was one of their goals. Well, that will have to wait until at least next year.
In the second game on Friday, Yale and Union squared off in what was thought to be a battle of two solid teams who, like Brown, had significantly stepped up their games going into the end of season. In what turned out to be another laugher, the Dutchmen man-handled the Bulldogs and soundly defeated them 5-0.
That’s right… the top two teams in the tourney didn’t score a single goal in the semi’s. Those double goose eggs meant that Yale and Quinnipiac would face off against each other, but only for 3rd place bragging rights. Neither team showed much of anything in their respective games. Both were flat and outclassed.
The game still had some meaning to Yale who needed a victory to secure a place in the national tournament. A second loss on the weekend wouldn’t eliminate the Bulldogs, but would take their fate out of their own hands and require help from teams in other playoff action around D-I hockey.
For Quinnipiac, the game meant nothing in terms of the tournament as they had already locked up the #1 overall seed. The only question was where they would be playing as a Brown win in the championship final would send the Bears to Providence as the host school, and the Bobcats would likely end up in Manchester, NH. A Brown loss would likely mean a date in Providence for the Q.
More importantly, the Bobcats needed to play well in order to gain momentum going into next weekend. Having struggled a bit over the last 3 or 4 weeks, they needed a little confidence.
After a scoreless 1st period, it looked like neither team would be able to score a goal. Then, at 4:34 of the 2nd, Bryce Van Brabant picked up a loose puck between the circles and wristed it past Jeff Malcolm to put Quinnipiac up 1-0. Scoring first seemed to energize the otherwise sluggish Bobcats. The difference to that point was the play of Hartzell who was stopping everything thrown at him. He was doing his part to give the team an opportunity. To be fair, Quinnipiac got help on a couple of Yale no-goals that were reviewed but not overturned.
Just over 2-1/2 minutes into the 3rd, Quinnipiac struck again when Cory Hibbeler put a juicy Malcolm rebound into the twine at the 2:42 mark, giving the Bobcats a 2-0 advantage. Yale kept pressuring but could not figure out how to beat Hartzell. In the final minute, a hard charging Kevin Bui deposited another Malcolm rebound with only :53 seconds remaining in the game.
Quinnipiac defeated Yale 3-0 giving Hartzell his school best 10th career shutout, and 5th of the season. The win was also #27 on the year for the Bobcats, tying another school record.
In the championship final, Union defeated Brown in a very well played game to win the Whitelaw Trophy and secure a spot in the national tournament. Quinnipiac will take the #1 seed in the Providence regional on Saturday at 5:30 pm and face a red hot Canisius, the #16 seed and Atlantic Hockey champions. The winner will face the winner of the 9:00 pm game between #12 Union vs. #6 Boston College. The regional final will be played on Sunday at 6:30 pm.
While the weekend wasn’t what everyone wanted it to be, the fact remains the Quinnipiac will still be playing next weekend with an eye on the ultimate prize: a Division I National Championship.
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| Bobcats were left feeling defeated Friday, but erased those thoughts with a 3-0 white washing of rival Yale. |
Weekend Recap – Quinnipiac vs. Cornell 3/15 – 3/17/13
What a weekend. After faltering a bit in game 1 on Friday, a 3-2 loss where the Bobcats gave up an uncharacteristic 2 power play goals, they stormed back on Saturday. With their backs against the wall, they threw up a touchdown and field goal against the Big Red in a 10-0 offensive explosion unlike any other this season. That set the stage for a thrilling come from behind double overtime victory, sending them to Atlantic City and the ECAC championship weekend.
On Friday, the Q struck first at the 5:48 mark when Connor Jones pushed one past Andy Iles. At the start of the 2nd period, Cornell had 1:37 of power play time and took a mere 23 seconds to get one by Eric Hartzell to tie the game at 1-1. Kellen Jones found the back of the net less than 3 minutes later to put Quinnipiac back on top at 2-1. The Big Red knotted it back up just 2:22 later. They added their second PPG at the 13:44 mark that would serve as the game winner after a scoreless 3rd period.
Overall Quinnipiac outplayed Cornell for most of the game. While they had a few moments in the second where Cornell took advantage, the difference in the game was goalie Iles who made many great saves on the 33 shots he faced.
That setup Saturday’s game as a must-win for the Bobcats. In a best-of-three series, you only get one chance to redeem yourself, and the boys did that and then some. A mere 24 seconds after the opening faceoff, Connor Jones would beat Iles 5-hole and a quick 1-0 lead. At 7:40, a Zack Currie one-timer deflected off Travis St. Denis and found its way into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead that would hold through the end of the period.
In a period totally dominated by Quinnipiac, Cornell was limited to a mere 3 shots, none of which really tested Hartzell. An aggressive forecheck kept the Big Red pinned deep in their own end, and on the rare occasions when they were able to get out of their own end, the Q defense was there to take over.
Just over two minutes into the second period, St. Denis to a beauty of feed from Ben Arnt behind the net and one-timed it past Iles for a 3-0 lead. At 5:36, after battling a Cornell defender down in the corner, Matt Peca gained control of the puck, totally undressed and embarrassed said defender, and roofed one past a shell-shocked Iles, giving Q a 4-0 lead. Less than a minute later, Cory Hibbeler gathered up a loose puck, spun around in the slot, and beat Iles far side with a back-hander for a 5-0 lead with over half the game left to be played. The rout was on, and Iles was pulled in favor of backup Omar Kanji.
Before the period ended, Quinnipiac would find the twine for another 4 goals (Arnt at 12:36, Kellen Jones at 16:17, Jordan Samuels-Thomas at 17:25, and a PPG by Kellen Jones at 19:28) and a convincing 9-0 lead.
Apparently, Cornell took some exception to the beating they were taking and felt it necessary to run Kevin Bui hard into the boards at the final buzzer. All ten skaters on the ice engaged in the melee and when the 3rd period started, there was one Big Red sitting in the locker room, and the penalty boxes were SRO with 4 Quinnipiac and 5 Cornell players sitting with 2’s and 10’s.
With so many people in the box, and the officials looking to keep things under control, the 3rd period was a little low key. At the 15:20 mark, Zach Tolkinen blasted a shot on the power play past Andy Iles, who returned in net at the start of the period. A 10-0 final score, coupled with all the bad blood, set the stage for an anything’s possible game 3 on Sunday.
Sunday’s 7:30 start (pushed back to accommodate women’s basketball, who clinched the NEC title and a berth in the NCAA tourney) got off to an auspicious start. Cornell’s Braden Birch took a turnover and skated in alone on Hartzell, beating him high short side for a 1-0 lead just 48 seconds into the game.
That score would hold into the 2nd when Zach Tolkinen blasted a laser past Iles to tie it at 1 just before the halfway point. That would be short-lived because Brian Ferlin stole a puck in the neutral zone, skated by a Bobcat defender, and potted an unassisted goal to give the Big Red a 2-1 lead.
In the third, fighting for their playoff lives, the Bobcats came out and took control, throwing everything they had at the net in hopes of getting the equalizer. Cornell, content to sit on their 1-goal lead, kept dumping and icing the puck. Quinnipiac kept coming back, and with just under 2 minutes remaining, pulled Hartzell in favor of the extra attacker. The puck remained deep behind the Cornell net and in the corners until Samuels-Thomas and Jeremy Langlois teamed up to allow Clay Harvey to get a couple of whacks at a puck at the post. He was finally able to push it past Iles and the score was tied with 1:04 left in regulation.
At that point, the Bank erupted. The capacity crowd became loud and the energy level was extremely high. As regulation ended, the place was rocking with a full intermission and 20 minute overtime yet to come.
Once again Quinnipiac came out with a purpose and controlled most of the play, outshooting Cornell 15-8 in that first OT frame. Both teams had a couple a very good chances, both goalies were doing what they needed to do, and they both got some help from the posts and crossbar. After 20 minutes of extra time, the score remained 2-2 and neither team showed any signs of being gassed.
Overtime period 2 was more of the same. The Bobcats had the advantage but Cornell was getting their chances as well. As the period was heading towards the 15 minute mark, Ben Arnt pulled a puck away from a Cornell attacker in the offensive zone and bumped it ahead to Loren Barron. Barron made a beauty of a cross ice pass to a streaking Kevin Bui who had a full head of steam as he took possession of the puck and skated by a Cornell defender, leaving him virtually alone in front of Iles. Bui took the puck across the front of the net, put it on his backhand, and beat a sprawling Iles for the game winner with 5:52 remaining in the period.
The Bank exploded in a frenzy as the Bobcats began to celebrate and many Cornell players simply fell to the ice in disbelief. It was a fitting finish for Bui, playing in his last game at home as a Bobcat. While not a regular starter, he played his limited role as well as anyone who’s ever worn the blue and gold.
The 3-2 victory gave the Bobcats their first quarterfinal win since 2007, and just their second since joining the ECAC. They now head to Atlantic City for the ECAC Championship and a shot at the Whitelaw Cup for the winner of the league tourney. They will face a red-hot Brown Bears squad in the 4:00 game on Friday at Boardwalk Hall. The winner of that game will face the winner of the 7:30 game between Yale and Union.
Regardless of what happens in Atlantic City, Quinnipiac will also be making an appearance on Easter weekend in the NCAA tournament. At the moment, they have a number 1 seed locked up and most likely will be the overall number 1 when the regionals begin.
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| Kevin Bui, a 5th year senior scored the double overtime game winner in all alone on Iles. |
ECAC Quarterfinals – March 15-17 Quinnipiac is once again playing in an ECAC quarterfinal series, like they have every year since joining the league. This year is a bit different, however, since for the first time, the Bobcats will be hosting the series at the Bank instead of traveling to some exotic ECAC destination. The opponent this weekend will be the Big Red from Cornell University. Cornell had to settle for a 9th place league finish after being picked as one of the top 2 or 3 teams to contend with this season. However, they’re playing well of late, going 4-1-1 over their last six regular season games and then sweeping Princeton on the road in this past weekend’s first-round action. Always a well prepared and stout defensive team, Cornell will face the pesky Bobcats and their speedy offensive corps. Not to mention, they have to figure out how to get the puck past the Q’s stingy defense and Hobey-hopeful goaltender Eric Hartzell. And they need to do all this on the road at the High Point Solutions Arena in the TD Bank Sportscenter. The winner of this series gets to travel to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ, next weekend for the ECAC semi-finals and championship weekend. As Quinnipiac’s Cinderella season continues, winning the ECAC championship is the next item on their to do list. Having already claimed the Cleary Cup as the ECAC regular season champions, adding the Whitelaw trophy as the ECAC tournament champion is their next quest. Regardless of what happens over the course of the next two weekends, the Bobcats are a lock for the NCAA tournament scheduled to begin on Easter weekend. They will most likely finish as a #1 seed, and quite possibly as the #1 overall seed. At this point, it looks like they’re a lock to be playing in the Providence regional on March 30-31.