By Rob Ciambra, QBSN Staff Writer
After a first round bye, the Quinnipiac Bobcats men’s hockey team will take on Cornell for a three game series in the second round of the ECAC Playoffs beginning Friday, March 15 at the TD Bank Sports Center. The Big Red, ranked ninth in the ECAC, swept the first round at Princeton, defeating the Tigers on March 8 and 9.
The Bobcats last played on March 2, defeating Dartmouth 4-1, which was the final game of the regular season.The winner of this series advances to the ECAC semi-finals in Atlantic City.
Keys for Game 1:
-Cornell needs to establish its presence in the building early. Eric Hartzell has been a force in net for Quinnipiac, and it’s going to be hard to score on him. But keeping the pressure on the Bobcat defense and Hartzell will give the Big Red a better shot at winning as long as they take control and dominate.
-The Bobcats got an extra week to prepare for the playoffs, and they also defeated Cornell earlier this season for the first time at the TD Bank Sports Center, so the “Monkey is off of their back.” But they need to watch out for Cornell’s Greg Miller, who leads the team with 32 points and 14 goals.
-The Bobcats needs to play a full 60 minute game of hockey. The playoffs put a lot more pressure on teams, and coasting for some time during the games isn’t going to end well for the Bobcats as it did for some games during the regular season. Cornell is a smart hockey team who will take advantage of the Bobcats mistakes.
