The Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team climbed to the No. 4 spot in the USCHO.com Division I poll while also receiving two first-place votes. The Bobcats remained in the No. 5 spot in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll for the second straight week, with three first-place votes.
Quinnipiac is also tied with Boston College and New Hampshire for first place in the PairWise Rankings. The Bobcats were previously ranked 4th in the USCHO.com poll, its highest ranking all-time, on Nov. 30, 2009.
After extending its NCAA leading unbeaten streak to 16 games (14-0-2) with a 1-1 tie of Renssealer on Friday, Jan. 11 and a 3-2 win against No. 16 Union on Saturday, Jan. 12, Quinnipiac pushed its overall record to 17-3-3. The Bobcats’ .804 winning percentage is also the best in Division I hockey. In addition, the first-place Bobcats are 11-0-1 (23 pts.) in ECAC Hockey and are 8-0-0 against ranked opponents this season.
Jeremy Langlois scored the Bobcats’ lone goal in their tie against RPI. On Saturday night, trailing 2-0 to start the third, Quinnipiac staged a late comeback, scoring three goals in the final period against No. 16 Union to shock the Dutchmen and keep the Bobcats’ undefeated league record intact. Mike Dalhuisen scored the Bobcats’ first goal of the game before setting up Jordan Samuels-Thomas with the game-tying goal. Kellen Jones put the exclamation point on the come-from-behind win with the game-winner late in the third.
Eric Hartzell remained undefeated in ECAC Hockey play after the senior goalie stopped 24 of RPI's 25 shots on goal before posting a 15-save performance against Union. For the year, Hartzell is 17-2-3 with a 1.48 GAA and a .933 save percentage. In ECAC Hockey play, he is 11-0-1 with a 1.32 GAA and a .930 save percentage. Last week, he was announced as a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award.
Quinnipiac is idle this weekend, but will return to action when it hosts Connecticut on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center. The game can be seen live on WCCT-TV, where available.
