Bobcats prepare for tough ECAC weekend

Bobcats prepare for tough ECAC weekend 

By Peter Rossi, QBSN Staff Writer

The Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team (8-6-2, 1-4-2 ECAC) will host a pair of ECAC games this weekend at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center when No. 9/9 Union (7-3-3, 3-2-0 ECAC) visits on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. while Rensselaer (3-10-0, 1-4-0 ECAC) come to town on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.

The Bobcats last game was a 4-2 victory last Saturday against UMass. The win snapped a six-game winless streak, and also finally saw three first period goals to end the Bobcats’ five game scoring slump. Junior Zack Currie (Victoria, British Columbia) and sophomore Connor Jones (Montrose, British Columbia) both tallied a goal and an assist while junior Clay Harvey (Gull Lake, Saskatchewan) and sophomore John Dunbar (Calgary, Alberta) also scored for the Bobcats. Senior Yuri Bouharevich (Montreal, Quebec) had two assists in the game, while senior Spencer Heichman (Yorba Linda, Calif.), junior Loren Barron (Glendora, Calif.) and sophomore Kellen Jones (Montrose, British Columbia) also had helpers. Junior goalie Eric Hartzell (White Bear Lake, Minn.) had a solid outing for the Bobcats, stopping 19 of 21 shots on goal to improve to 3-3-2 on the season. Hartzell kicked away the first 11 shots he saw on the afternoon before UMass got on the board one minute and 47 seconds into the third period. 

       

The Dutchmen won their last two games, 5-1 against Rensselaer on Nov. 15, and 6-3 against Michigan on Nov. 27. Kelly Zajac leads five Union players in double digits with three goals and a team-high 13 assists for 16 points. Jeremy Welsh has scored a team-leading nine goals to go along with three assists for 12 points. In goal, Troy Grosenick has logged over 70 percent of the minutes in net, registering a 6-2-2 record with an average of 1.76 goals-against and a .932 save percentage.

Keys for the Bobcats:

Quinnipiac needs to get continued success in net by both Hartzell and senior Dan Clarke. With a back-to-back series this weekend, it is likely that both of these net minders will get starts, looking to Hartzell for Friday’s contest after his play against UMass. Union is no slouch offensively as well, so the Bobcats’ defensive core will need to come up big, looking to big guys such as junior Mike Dalhuisen (Nymegen, Holland) to throw the body around and sophomore defenseman Zach Tolkinen (Lino Lakes, Minn.) to put some shots on net and possibly behind the goalie. Captain Scott Zurevinski (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) needs to put his leadership on display and stay out of the penalty box and continue to be a source of guidance for this Bobcat team. The Jones twins need to be offensive threats both nights, and freshman standout Matthew Peca (Petawawa, Ontario) needs to continue his brilliant play to get the Bobcats some big ECAC points.

Keys for the Dutchmen:

The Dutchmen need to score quickly on the Bobcats. Time and time again, if the Bobcats find themselves in an early hole, they could get down on themselves and start to squeeze the sticks a little too hard. Their goaltending needs to continue to be solid, and Union needs to get the crowd out of it early on in the game, as the Bobcats are 5-1-1 on home ice this season, and always have a good crowd when the Dutchmen fly into town.

Last Meeting:

Quinnipiac and Union tied 2-2 on Feb. 25, 2011 at Union. The Bobcats overcame a two goal deficit with stellar net-play by Clarke who stopped 31 of 33 shots and goals by Brooks Robinson (Duncan, British Columbia) and John Dunbar. Connor and Kellen Jones both had pairs of assists on the goals. Adam Presizniuk scored on the power-play and Kyle Bodie gave the Dutchmen the two goal lead. Quinnipiac is 9-9-2 in 20 games against Union, but have not won since their epic five-overtime ECAC Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals showdown on March 12, 2010.

Rensselaer comes into Hamden having won two of its last three, with wins against Brown and RIT and a 5-1 loss to Union. Nick Bailen and Ryan Haggerty have paced the Engineers with three goals and three assists apiece, while Brock Higgs leads the team with four assists.

Keys for the Engineers:

The necessities for the Engineers are similar to those of the Dutchmen. RPI needs to be tough defensively and needs to score timely goals against this stingy Bobcat defense, currently ranked eighth in the nation in goals against with a 2.25 goals against average.

Last Meeting:

Quinnipiac and Rensselaer skated to a 2-2 tie on Feb. 26 2011. Bouharevich and Robinson both scored for the Bobcats, while sophomore Hartzell stopped 31 of RPI's 33 shots on goal. Dalhuisen, Heichman, Ben Arnt (Oakdale, Minn.) and Currie all had assists in the game. Guy Leboeuf and Joel Malchuk scored the goals for the Engineers. John Kennedy, Tyler Helfrich, and Greg Burdendoefer were all credited with assists. Quinnipiac is 5-5-6 all-time against RPI, but haven't registered a win against the Engineers since 2008, with RPI winning two of the last five games, with three ending in ties.