HAMDEN, Conn. – Cornell, Quinnipiac, and hockey are often synonymous with low-scoring games. That lived to expectation Saturday night at M&T Bank Arena as Jack Quillan scored both Quinnipiac goals to lift the No. 7-ranked Bobcats (5-1-2, 2-0-0 ECAC) to a 2-0 victory over Cornell (1-3-0, 1-1-0 ECAC).
Quinnipiac yielded just nine Cornell shots on goal on the night, which included holding the Big Red without a shot on goal for nearly the first 23 minutes of the contest.
At the conclusion of the night, Quinnipiac out-shot Cornell by a 28-9 margin and had a plus-24 differential in shot attempts, 60-36.
Cornell sophomore goaltender
Ian Shane stopped 26 of 27 shots in the defeat, while his counterpart Yaniv Perets stopped all nine Cornell shots to earn his 13th career shutout.
Quillan scored the first of his two goals late in the first period, redirecting Jack Johnson's wrist shot from the left point following a faceoff win by TJ Friedmann.
Early in the second period, Cornell was forced to kill a five-minute penalty as
Gabriel Seger was assessed a major penalty for hitting from behind and subsequently issued a game misconduct following a video review.
The Big Red penalty killers gave up just three shot attempts during the power play, two of which were blocked by defensemen
Sebastian Dirven and
Travis Mitchell.
Cornell had a four chances to net the game-tying goal – including a 5-on-3 chance – but Cornell only registered one shot during its seven-plus minutes with the man advantage.
With 11 seconds left, Quillan added an insurance marker by scoring an empty-net goal from the neutral zone.
Game Notes
• Saturday was the 48th meeting between Cornell and Quinnipiac. Cornell continues to lead the all-time series over the Bobcats despite the setback, 25-19-4.
• Over the last 12 games played between Cornell and Quinnipiac, eight have featured three goals or less scored, and the teams have combined to score an average of 3.58 goals per game.
• The Big Red were shutout for the first time since falling to Quinnipiac, 5-0, on Jan. 31, 2020, snapping the program's 44-game streak of not being held scoreless.
• Cornell was held to a single-digit shot total for the first time since also logging nine shots against Union on Feb. 11, 2011, in a 4-0 loss to the Dutchmen.
• The Big Red blocked 19 Quinnipiac shots on the night, highlighted by four blocks each by Mitchell and
Matt Stienburg.
Hank Kempf stepped in front of three shot attempts and
Ondrej Psenicka deflected a pair of Quinnipiac shots.
Looking Ahead
Cornell continues its six-game road trip to open the 2022-23 season next weekend when the Big Red heads to the North Country to take on St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Puck drop for both contests is slated for 7 p.m. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+ both nights.