The top-seeded Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team used a three-goal second period to beat the eighth-seeded Cornell Big Red on Friday night in Hamden.

Quinnipiac takes game one of the best-of-three ECAC quarterfinals.

“Our forwards were really good as a unit tonight,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “They knew they were going to get hacked and hit. They were tough and they got rewarded with some tough goals in front of the net.”

Cornell struck early in the first period when they caused a Quinnipiac turnover that saw Quinnipiac defenseman Chase Priskie all alone facing two Cornell forwards.

Cornell’s Jake Weidner carried the puck into the offensive zone and rifled one past Quinnipiac goaltender Michael Garteig to give Cornell an early 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later, Quinnipiac’s Landon Smith beat a defender and then beat Cornell goaltender Mitch Gillam short side to tie the game up, reenergizing the crowd.

Smith’s first career postseason goal was also his first goal since Quinnipiac’s last game against Cornell, a 2-2 tie in February.

The Bobcats are now 8-0-1 when Smith scores for Quinnipiac.

Just 30 seconds into the second period, Quinnipiac defenseman Connor Clifton rifled a shot from the point that was saved by Gillam, who could not corral the puck.

Quinnipiac’s Travis St. Denis was on the doorstep and cleaned up the rebound to put the Bobcats up 2-1.

“Clifton made a nice shot from the point and it came out from the crease there. I just whacked in,” St. Denis said. “Then I got cross checked, but the puck ended up in the net so I was happy.”

St. Denis also had two assists on the night to bring his point total to 42 on the season.

With that, the Bobcats now have two 40-point scorers on the year. Quinnipiac’s Sam Anas tallied two assists on the night to give him 44 points this season, the most for any Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey player since the 2008-09 season.

This is the first time the Bobcats have had two 40-point scorers since Quinnipiac’s 2012-2013 season when Anas had 43 points and Kellen Jones had 42.

Just over a minute and a half later, the Bobcats found themselves in a state of deja vu when Clifton slapped another shot from the point, leaving a large rebound in front of Gillam.

This time however, it was freshman Thomas Aldworth who gathered the puck in front and beat the goaltender to his left to give the Bobcats the 3-1 lead.

Aldworth’s sixth goal of the season ended a six-week goal-scoring drought for the Texas native.

After a power-play goal by Cornell drew the Big Red within one, Quinnipiac used a power play of their own to enter the second intermission leading by two goals.

With great puck movement on the man advantage, Smith tipped in his second goal of the night on a shot from Anas to put the Bobcats up 4-2.

“We were getting traffic to the net,” Clifton said. “Gillam is a small goalie and we were trying to take away his eyes. We were putting away our rebounds.”

These two teams return to action tomorrow night when they face off in game two.

With a win Saturday, the Bobcats punch their ticket to Lake Placid for the ECAC semifinals.

“It’s crucial to get game two against anyone you play. You don’t want to play on Sunday,” Pecknold said. “I don’t care who you have, any of the other eleven teams. You want that extra day of rest.”