The nationally-ranked No. 2/2 Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team skated to a 1-1 tie against Brown at Meehan Auditorium Friday night.
Quinnipiac runs its NCAA-leading unbeaten streak to 18 games, 15-0-3, while they also remain undefeated in ECAC Hockey at 11-0-2. The Bobcats also improve to 18-3-4 overall while Brown goes to 7-9-5 overall and 3-6-5 in ECAC Hockey play. Quinnipiac is also 2-0-3 in overtime this season.
“I thought we were just ok,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “We were sluggish mentally and didn’t do some of the things we need to do to win. There was a lack of focus by the team in a couple areas and some of the things that have made us successful this year – we got away from.
"Give credit to Brown, they blocked almost 30 shots tonight," Pecknold said. "When kids are committed to blocking shots like that, it’s tough to get pucks through. Ultimately, we’ll take the point and run with it, but it wasn’t our best effort.”
Quinnipiac’s 18-game unbeaten streak is the longest in the NCAA since Boston College went 19 straight games without a loss en route to last season’s national championship. Connor Jones scored for Quinnipiac while Eric Hartzell improved to 18-2-3 on the year with a 30-save performance against the Bears. Brown’s Anthony Borelli had 38 saves in the tie.
Both teams skated through the first 30 minutes that saw outstanding efforts from Hartzell and Borelli. With 6:59 remaining in the second period, Brandon Pfeil took a pass from Mark Naclerio in the face-off circle to Hartzell’s left and wristed a shot to the opposite post to give Brown a 1-0 lead with a little less than half the game to play. The goal was Pfeil’s second of the season while Naclerio picks up his sixth assist of the season.
Less than two minutes later, Connor Jones answered with his sixth goal of the year. After Brown’s Dennis Robertson was called for cross-checking, and the Bobcats on the power play, Matthew Peca held the puck along the boards before dropping a pass to Kellen Jones above the goal line. Kellen put a shot on goal that was collected by Connor. His rebound shot found its way between Borelli’s pads to tie the game, 1-1. The tally gives Quinnipiac a power-play goal in three straight games and seven in its last seven games. Peca’s assist gives him a point in five straight games, the longest active streak for Quinnipiac.
Quinnipiac is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 2 when it travels to Ingalls Rink in New Haven to take on No. 7/8 Yale at 7 p.m. The game between two of the nation’s top 10 teams can be seen live on CPTV Sports, where available.
