The stage is set for the 2015 NCAA men’s ice hockey tournament and the Quinnipiac Bobcats will travel to Fargo, North Dakota to open up their quest for a championship. The Bobcats (23-11-4, 16-3-3 ECAC) return to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year, with this year’s opening round opponent being North Dakota.
North Dakota is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time this season, after falling to St. Cloud State, 3-1 in the semifinals of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Frozen Faceoff and then falling to Denver in the third place game, 5-1. Quinnipiac is also coming off a semifinals loss in the ECAC Tournament to Harvard, 5-2.
North Dakota (27-9-3, 16-6-2 NCHC) earned the No. 2 overall seed taking the top seed in the region. This marks the 30th time that North Dakota will participate in the NCAA Tournament, and its 13th straight appearance.
“To finally play those guys who have been there 13 years in a row, like North Dakota has, it’s a cool experience,” Quinnipiac senior co-captain Danny Federico said. “They have a pretty historic program and a lot of success.”
Quinnipiac comes in to this matchup against North Dakota as the No. 4 seed in the West Region, being the 14th overall seed in the tournament while North Dakota is No. 1 in the region and No.2 overall behind only Minnesota State. Many see the Bobcats as the underdogs coming in to their first round game against a powerhouse like North Dakota, the team feels confident in that role.
“We don’t feel as we’re the underdog,” senior co-captain Matthew Peca said. “We feel like we can compete with basically any team in the country as long as we have a good first period.”
“We think we’re just as good of a team as North Dakota,” Federico said. “We know we’re a good hockey team and if we play the way we’re capable of playing we’ll be fine.”
Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold revealed to the media that his team may be without sophomore forward and leading goal scorer Sam Anas for the matchup in Fargo.
“It’s not good,” Pecknold said. “He’s not even close. So we’re going to proceed ahead without him, and we need to find a way.”
Last season’s national rookie of the year leads the Bobcats with 23 goals and 17 assists on the season. He left Quinnipiac’s game three quarterfinal victory over Union with a knee injury, ultimately forcing him to miss the teams’ ECAC semifinal matchup against Harvard.
“We don’t make excuses. You have injuries; you need to deal with it,” Pecknold said. “It’s part of college hockey, it’s part of the NHL, it’s part of hockey. You can’t make excuses. Guys have to step up and we have to move on.”
The Bobcats will look for other players to step up and fill the void left by Anas. Junior Travis St. Denis and freshman Landon Smith are tied for second on the team with 15 goals each and will be relied on heavily to pick up the scoring. Junior Soren Jonzzon has already begun to pick up his play scoring three goals in the last two games with Anas out of the lineup, bringing his total to eight on the season.
While the team will heavily rely on the likes of St. Denis, Smith, and Jonzzon to light the lamp and put the puck in the net, the team still knows everyone is going to have to step up.
“It’s going to have to be everybody. Everyone’s going to have to elevate their game,” Peca said. “We are going to need some goal scoring on our power-play, because obviously we are missing Sam [Anas]. He’s been a big part of our power-play and goal scoring this year.”
Drake Caggiula leads North Dakota in to the NCAA tournament with a team high 33 points, behind 16 goals and 17 assists. Michael Parks comes in with 32 points of his own on 12 goals and 20 assists, with Jordan Schmaltz tallying 27 points of his own.
Both goaltenders come in to this game with similar statistics as well. Quinnipiac junior Michael Garteig comes in with a 2.00 goals against average, while his counterpart, Zane McIntyre comes in with a 2.05 goals against average.
The two teams will face off in the West Region of the bracket with the game taking place at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota. The game can be seen on Friday March, 27 on ESPNU at 8 p.m.
