After a long road trip across the pond to Belfast, Northern Ireland, the Quinnipiac Bobcats (9-4-2, 5-1-1 ECAC Hockey) are back at the High Point Solutions Arena to face the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers (3-12-1, 1-5 ECAC Hockey) with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.
Recent results:
Quinnipiac participated in the Friendship Four in Belfast, a tournament consisting of Quinnipiac University, St. Lawrence University, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and the University of Vermont.
Quinnipiac’s first game against St. Lawrence finished tied at zero after three periods and overtime, but the Bobcats went on to defeat the Saints in a shootout. The game was played under Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Hockey as a conference game, so both teams came out of the contest with a point in the standings.
Quinnipiac faced the Vermont Catamounts in the championship game. Starting goaltender Chris Truehl was given the day off and Andrew Shortridge was given the task to backstop the Bobcat defense. That plan did not go accordingly, as Vermont defeated Quinnipiac 5-1 giving the Catamounts the Friendship Four title.
RPI comes into the weekend after splitting a two game series with Arizona State University. The Engineers were leading in the first game after one period of play, 2-1, but ended up dropping the game to the Sun Devils 5-3.
The second game was all RPI, as it blanked Arizona State 2-0. Sophomore goaltender Cam Hackett recorded his first collegiate shutout as he led the Engineers to a victory, snapping their seven game losing streak.
Watching from the stands:
Bobcats’ captain Connor Clifton will be watching the game amongst the fans as he was suspended for one game by the ECAC after a major penalty and a game misconduct for contact to the head.
This will be a big test for the Quinnipiac defense, as it will be missing one of its key defenseman.
Who’s hot?
For the Bobcats, sophomore forward Craig Martin has stood out recently recording a point in six of his last seven games including two goals, and four assists in his last five games. This brings his point total on the year to 11, which is third on the team. His quick release and hard work off the puck makes him a danger for the opposing defense.
Engineer sophomore forward Evan Tironese has stood out from the rest of his team in terms of points. He added three more points to his total last weekend against Arizona State with three assists on the weekend, bringing his total number of assists to 14 on the year. He is the playmaker for this RPI team, so look out for him to support his teammates with passes this weekend.
THE GOALIES!
Expected to patrol the crease for the Bobcats is Chris Truehl. Truehl comes into the weekend with a 7-2-2 record and had a 30-save shutout in his last start against St. Lawrence, bringing his total numbers on the year to a 2.06 goals against average and a .926 save percentage.
Expected in between the pipes for RPI is sophomore goaltender Chase Perry. Perry has posted a 3.67 goals against average and a .899 save percentage through 11 games. While the case might be made to start Cam Hackett, who has a 2.71 goals against average and a .913 save percentage, head coach Seth Appert has gone to Perry for most of the young season.
History goes Quinnipiac’s way:
In recent meetings between the two sides, Quinnipiac has had the upper hand. In the last 12 meetings, the Bobcats have come away unbeaten, going 7-0-5 in that span. Quinnipiac is 12-5-9 all-time against the Engineers. The Bobcats have only lost to RPI at home one time in their 10 game history at High Point Solutions Arena. That loss came almost seven years ago on January 10, 2010.
