What to watch for: Bobcats host Big Red

What to watch for: Bobcats host Big Red

By Marty Joseph, QBSN Staff Writer

The Quinnipiac men’s hockey team heads into a huge weekend in which the team hosts Cornell and Colgate. The first place team in the ECAC will be on the line Friday when Cornell visits the High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center at 7 p.m.

Cornell (9-4-2, 6-1-1 ECAC) is currently atop the conference with 13 points and rank No. 9 in USCHO.com’s national poll. The Bobcats (12-7-5, 4-4-4 ECAC) are currently tied for second place with Colgate and are only one point out of first place in the conference.

Friday will mark the second and final meeting of the season between the two teams, with Cornell taking the previous meeting, 4-0, back on Nov. 18. The Bobcats trail in the all-time series with a 5-12-2 record against Cornell.

Since falling to Cornell on Nov. 18, the Bobcats are 5-1-3 overall and 3-0-2 in the ECAC. The Bobcats are seeking revenge from the 4-0 loss and are looking to continue their winning ways of late.

Cornell hasn’t lost a conference game since Nov. 5 in a 5-4 loss to Brown and will obviously be looking to continue their dominance in the ECAC.

Keys for the Big Red:

Cornell plays its best hockey when playing with the lead. Friday’s match-up will be the first ECAC game for the Big Red since early December, so the team will need to come out with a strong effort early and grab the lead. Cornell is 6-1-1 when scoring the first goal this season and 4-1-1 on the road. Sophomore goaltender Andy Iles has played every minute of every game this season for the Big Red and has seemed to be unaffected by his heavy work load. Heading into Friday’s match-up, Iles has been nearly unbeatable in the ECAC, posting a 6-1-1 record with 1.36 GAA, .941 save percentage, and four shutouts. If Cornell can grab the lead early and get up by two or three goals, the game will be a win for the Big Red.

Keys for the Bobcats:

The Bobcats have put themselves in a good position to grab first place in the conference this weekend. The team plays its best hockey on home-ice with an 8-1-2 record at High Point Solutions Arena. The key for the Bobcats is making the most of their opportunities because they simply will not have many against the Big Red, who have only allowed two goals per game this season. The Bobcats will need to focus on getting shots through from the blue line and getting players in front of Iles for rebounds. When playing a team like Cornell the game plan has to be to play a strong, hardnosed offensive game and to bury scoring chances.