HAMDEN, Conn. — The men's hockey team's pursuit of the program's 13th ECAC Hockey Championship title ramps back up at 7 p.m. Friday with Game 1 of a quarterfinal series against Quinnipiac at High Point Solutions Arena. The best-of-three series will then feature a 7 p.m. start time for Games 2 on Saturday. If necessary, Game 3 would be at 4 p.m. Sunday. All games will streamed through BoxCast on the official ECAC Hockey website. Jason Weinstein will handle play-by-play, which can be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM).
 
ECAC HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS
QUARTERFINAL SERIES: 8-CORNELL at 1-QUINNIPIAC
FORMAT: Best of three games
GAME 1: 7 p.m. Friday, March 11, 2016
GAME 2: 7 p.m. Saturday, March 12, 2016
GAME 3 (if necessary): 4 p.m. Sunday, March 13, 2016
PLACE: High Points Solutions Arena   ·  Hamden, Conn.
RECORDS: Cornell 15-9-7, 8-8-6 ECAC Hockey  ·  Quinnipiac 25-2-7, 16-1-5 ECAC Hockey
WEBCAST: ECACHockey.com
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: QuinnipiacBobcats.com
 
Cornell game notes (PDF)
Quinnipiac game notes (PDF)
 
The Big Red Rewind:
Cornell swept Union in a first-round series last weekend at Lynah Rink. Junior goaltender Mitch Gillam stopped 59 of 60 shots over the weekend, including all 27 he faced in a 1-0 Game 1 victory on Friday. Junior defenseman Holden Anderson scored the lone goal with 6:12 left in the third period on a one-timer set up by freshman forward Mitch Vanderlaan after a clean faceoff win by junior forward Jeff Kubiak. ... Junior forward Matt Buckles scored in the fourth minute of overtime to give Cornell a 2-1 victory in Game 2. Sophomore defenseman Ryan Bliss scored the first goal in the second period, set up by Vanderlaan. ... Union received eight of the series' 10 power plays, and the Cornell penalty kill came through seven times. At the forefront of the effort was a key two-man disadvantage kill of more than a minute in the first period of Game 2, with junior forward Eric Freschi, senior defenseman Reece Willcox and junior defenseman Patrick McCarron on the ice for the duration.
 
Who's Who at CU:
Junior goaltender Mitch Gillam (15-9-7, 1.94, .933, 7 SO) has started all of the Big Red's games to date and was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week this week for the fifth time this season. His seven shutouts are tied for second-most in the country, and both his goals-against average and save percentage rank in the Top 10 nationally. ... Junior forward Jeff Kubiak (8-16–24) leads the team in scoring and rating (plus-15). For the entire season, he's centered a line with a pair of freshman wingers on the 'JAM' line (an acronym of their first names) — Anthony Angello (11-11–22), who leads the team in goals, and Mitch Vanderlaan (7-10–17). Freshman Alec McCrea (3-12–15) is the team's leading scorer among defensemen and was tied for second in freshman defenseman scoring in ECAC Hockey games. ... Junior forward Matt Buckles (6-3–9) leads the team with four power-play goals and 68 shots on goal. ... Junior forward Jake Weidner (3-9–12) is the team's leading faceoff man, winning 56.9% of his draws.
 
No Fear:
Cornell is 1-0-1 this season against No. 1-ranked teams. The Big Red defeated Providence in overtime, 2-1, on Dec. 28 when the Friars entered the game undefeated and ranked No. 1 in both major college hockey polls. Cornell followed that up by rallying for a 2-2 tie Feb. 5 at Quinnipiac, which remains the No. 1 team in the country after suffering just two losses during the regular season.
 
About Quinnipiac:
The top-ranked Bobcats are coming off a bye week after closing the regular season with 4-1 victories against visiting Brown and Yale. Quinnipiac has gone to overtime in nine of its last 14 games ... The Bobcats are led in scoring by junior forward Sam Anas (21-22–43; 8 PPGs). He typically plays on a line with senior Travis St. Denis (18-20–38; 9 PPGs) at center and sophomore Landon Smith (8-22–30) on the opposite wing. Junior forward Tim Clifton (17-18–35; 8 PPGs, 2 SHG) leads the team with a plus-25 rating. ... Senior Michael Garteig (25-2-7, 1.82, .926, 7 SO) has started all but one of the team's games in goal.
 
The Series Against Quinnipiac:
Cornell leads the all-time series against Quinnipiac, 16-13-4. Four of the last five meetings between the teams have gone to overtime, and the only goal of the other game came with less than two minutes remaining in the third period. The Bobcats won in overtime, 5-4, on Nov. 7 at Lynah Rink earlier this year, then the Big Red earned a 2-2 tie Feb. 5 in Hamden thanks to a third-period goal from Mitch Vanderlaan.

Postseason History With Quinnipiac:
The Big Red is 4-5 against the Bobcats in postseason play, which includes a memorable trip to Hamden during the 2012-13 season. Quinnipiac was also the No. 1 seed in ECAC Hockey and the nation's top-ranked team that season, but ninth-seeded Cornell came in and scored three second-period goals to earn a 3-2 victory in Game 1. After the Bobcats countered with a 10-0 win in Game 2, Cornell led for more than 57 minutes of Game 3 — but Quinnipiac scored an extra-attacker goal with 1:04 left in the third, then clinched the series with a double-overtime winner. ... The only other league playoff series between the teams since the Bobcats joined ECAC Hockey for the 2005-06 season came at Lynah Rink. The Big Red won a three-game quarterfinal series in 2011, and the Bobcats swept a quarterfinal series in 2007. ... Cornell has won the only NCAA tournament clash between the teams, cruising to a 6-1 win on March 23, 2002 in an East Regional semifinal.
 
Gillam's Groove:
Junior goaltender Mitch Gillam was named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week on Nov. 17, then earned Player of the Week and NCAA First Star honors on Nov. 24 followed by a 40-save effort Nov. 28 against Boston University. In that span, he posted the third-longest shutout streak in program history, spanning 213 minutes, 17 seconds over four games — including consecutive shutouts at Yale and Brown. That marked the Big Red's first back-to-back shutouts since Andy Iles did so Dec. 2-3, 2011 against St. Lawrence and Clarkson, and it was the Big Red's first consecutive road shutouts since Ben Scrivens blanked Princeton and Quinnipiac from Nov. 7-8, 2008. An odd twist on Gillam's eight career shutouts is that he's only won six of them — Dec. 28, 2014 against Lake Superior State and Nov. 20, 2015 against Yale were both scoreless ties.
 
Award Season:
Senior defenseman Reece Willcox was named to the All-Ivy League first team last week. Routinely matched up against the opposition's top forward combinations, Willcox has still posted plus-4 rating to date. He is the current leader on the team with 115 career games, having played extensive minutes as a top-four defenseman for all four years on the power play, penalty kill and at even strength. He has blocked more than 200 shots in his four years on East Hill.
 
One And Done:
With Cornell's 1-0 win over Union last Friday, the Big Red has four 1-0 victories in a single season for the first time in program history. Oddly enough, the other three are all on the road against Ivy League teams  — Brown on Nov. 21; Princeton on Feb. 6; Dartmouth on Feb. 20 — and the Big Red played to a scoreless deadlock against Yale on Nov. 20.
 
Working Overtime:
The Big Red went to overtime last Saturday for a 14th time this season, which broke a program record. The previous record was 12, set in 1985-86, then matched in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Cornell has gone to overtime in seven of its last 12 games, and it's 4-3-7 in its overtime games to date. The Big Red's four OT winners are tied for the most in the nation with Michigan Tech, Minnesota and this weekend's opponent, Quinnipiac.
 
Wasting No Time:
Junior forward Jeff Kubiak entered the season with 17 career points through his first two seasons, but he followed that up with nine points in the first six games this year. He had the Big Red's six-game point streak since Brian Ferlin's seven-game stretch from Dec. 28, 2013 to Jan. 31, 2014. Kubiak has more points this season (24) than he had in 57 games through his freshman and sophomore seasons.
 
What, Me Worry?:
Four of Cornell's 15 victories have come in games in which it has surrendered the first goal. The Big Red had a combined record of 14-34-5 over the previous three seasons when it faced a 1-0 deficit. Cornell was a remarkable 4-0 when yielding the first goal until its Dec. 29 loss to Ohio State.
 
Freshman Force:
The jump to college hockey can be a big one for newcomers, but freshman forward Anthony Angello — a 2014 draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins — has felt right at home. Angello is the Big Red's first player to have points in his first four collegiate games since Ryan Moynihan from Nov. 8-16, 1996 — which was Mike Schafer's second season as head coach of his alma mater. He then scored the overtime winner Nov. 14 at Colgate and has been named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week twice (Jan. 12 and March 1). Angello's 11 goals lead the team.
 
Class of Captains:
On the day of its season opener at Niagara, Cornell announced that its entire senior class — Christian Hilbrich, John Knisley, Teemu Tiitinen and Reece Willcox — would serve as captains during its final season on East Hill. It marks the first time in program history the Big Red has shared the captaincy among four players, though it's worth noting that only two players will wear the 'C' at any given time. Hilbrich and Willcox will serve as on-ice captains for the team's away games, while Knisley and Tiitinen will do so in home games.
 
Feel The Draft?:
Cornell has six players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including four from 2014. Freshman forward Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was selected earliest in the group, having been taken in the third round with the 88th overall pick. Fellow newcomer Anthony Angello, also a forward, was selected in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sophomore forward Jared Fiegl (Arizona Coyotes) and Dwyer Tschantz (St. Louis Blues) were then picked in the seventh round. Junior forward Matt Buckles was taken by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, and senior defenseman Reece Willcox was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the fifth round of 2012's event.
 
Blank You Very Much:
Cornell has recorded at least one shutout in each of the last 21 seasons – a streak that has easily been continued behind junior goaltender Mitch Gillam's six shutouts this season. The last time the Big Red went a full season without posting a shutout came during the 1994-95 season.
 
TGIF:
Cornell still has not lost a Friday night game at Quinnipiac since the Bobcats joined ECAC Hockey before the 2005-06 season. The Big Red is 6-0-1 in Connecticut against Quinnipiac on Friday nights, including a 2-2 tie on Feb. 5.
 
Global Influence:
The Big Red has 16 players on the roster born in the United States. Cornell also now has players native to four different countries on its squad. Aside from the bulk of its roster hailing from the United States and Canada, Cornell also has a player from Denmark (Christian Hilbrich) and Finland (Teemu Tiitinen).
 
Special Threads:
The Big Red wore special jerseys for its home opener which were recently auctioned off to bids totaling $10,400. Proceeds from the auction will go to a mission and service trip to the Dominican Republic this summer, led by head coach Mike Schafer and current players. In addition to the special design the red jerseys with a thick horizontal white stripe across the midsection, the jerseys featured name plates of the greatest Cornell hockey player to have ever donned that number according to the player that currently wears it.
 
Understudy Extraordinaire:
Associate Head Coach Ben Syer improved his career record as acting head coach to 5-0-2 after taking the helm for three games (Feb. 5-12) with Mike Schafer not in attendance due to a concussion suffered in practice. All but one of Syer's games as acting head coach have come with Cornell, including victories over St. Lawrence (Feb. 18, 2012), Clarkson (Nov. 14, 2014), Union (Feb. 21, 2015) and Princeton (Feb. 6), and ties at Quinnipiac (Feb. 5) and against Brown (Feb. 12).
 
The 35th to 350:
Already the winningest coach in program history, Mike Schafer hit 350 victories for his career — all of which have come from behind the Big Red's bench — with a 4-2 win over Princeton on Nov. 1, 2013. He became the 35th coach all-time to rack up 350 victories across all NCAA divisions. Schafer is also just the third coach to pass 350 victories with Ivy League tenure, joining Ned Harkness (Cornell, Union and Rensselaer) and Tim Taylor (Yale).
 
Up Next:
If Cornell wins the quarterfinal series against Quinnipiac, it will advance to the championship weekend for the eighth time in the last 11 years. The Big Red would then face one of Yale, Harvard, St. Lawrence or Clarkson in the semifinals. If the Big Red is eliminated from league contention by the Bobcats, it will likely fall short of an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament.