The Quinnipiac University men's ice hockey team lost the first game of its ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals series against Cornell, 3-2, at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center. Quinnipiac drops to 24-6-5 overall while Cornell improves to 15-14-3 for the year. The best-of-three series will resume on Saturday, Mar. 16 at 7 p.m.
Kellen Jones had a goal and an assist while Matthew Peca had two assists. Connor Jones also scored in the Bobcats' loss.
A little under six minutes into the game, Quinnipiac found itself on its first power-play of the night. Kellen Jones held the puck at the point and snapped a pass across ice to Peca. Peca fed Connor Jones on the goal line, who threw the puck on net. It found its way to the crease where it hit a skate and was re-directed into the Big Red's goal, giving Quinnipiac a 1-0 lead.
Coming out of the first intermission, Cornell found itself with the man-advantage after a Quinnipiac skater was whistled for tripping just before the end of the first period. Cornell's Brian Ferlin capitalized, scoring on a one-timer from Greg Miller. Three minutes later Loren Barron quarter-backed the Bobcats' second goal of the night when he skated into the right face-off circle, looked off a defender and ripped the puck low to Peca. Peca then slide the puck across the crease, feeding Kellen Jones on the back door to give Quinnipiac a 2-1 lead.
At the 5:34 mark, Madison Dias took a pass from John Knisley and slid the puck under Bobcats' goalieEric Hartzell's pads to tie the game at 2-2. With less than six minutes to play in the period, Ferlin's second goal, also on the power play, gave Cornell a 3-2 lead that would hold until the second intermission. Nick D'Agostino held the puck just below the blue line in the Bobcats' zone and fed Joel Lowry along the boards. Lowry skated in on Hartzell, snapping a shot off of the Bobcats' goalies pads. Ferlin crashed the net and jammed a shot under Hartzell to give the Big Red a one-goal lead.
Quinnipiac returns to action with Game 2 of its ECAC Hockey Championship Quarterfinal Series agaisnt Cornell on Saturday, Mar. 16 at 7 p.m. The game can be seen live on NESN. Game 3, if necessary, will be played on Sunday, Mar. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Both games are set to be played at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center.
