ITHACA, N.Y. — Quinnipiac freshman forward Chris Pelosi broke a 1-1 tie 8:11 into the third period, and sophomore forward Mason Marcellus tacked on an empty-net goal with 1.7 seconds remaining, to aid the visiting Bobcats (6-5-0, 3-2-0 ECAC Hockey) to a 3-1 victory over the No. 8-ranked Cornell men's hockey team (3-2-2, 1-2-2 ECAC Hockey) before a crowd of 3,980 at Lynah Rink on Friday night.

Sophomore goaltender Dylan Silverstein made 15 saves between the pipes for the Bobcats to improve to 4-3-0.

Quinnipiac's victory was its first at Lynah Rink since posting a 4-2 victory over the Big Red on Nov. 16, 2018. It was also the Bobcats' first road win against either Colgate or Cornell since defeating the Raiders, 5-1, on Jan. 21, 2022, snapping a five-game losing streak.

Cornell sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna scored the lone tally on the night for Big Red with 2:35 left in the first period. Senior defenseman Tim Rego earned the only assist on the goal. Fellow senior Ian Shane made 20 saves in the setback as his record fell to 3-2-2.

"[Quinnipiac]'s like ourselves, they can be a tough, frustrating team to play against," said Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey. "We didn't do our job as far as playing with poise and taking care of pucks. In all essence, it came down to they scored on their power play and made a great play on a quick mistake by our guys."

Graduate student defenseman Aaron Bohlinger tallied the first Bobcats goal, scoring with one second left on a cross checking penalty to sophomore forward Ryan Walsh. Bohlinger capitalized on a second chance as Pelosi had his shot attempt blocked by senior defenseman Michael Suda, who led the team with three blocked shots.

"It was tough that we gave up a power-play goal and got beat in special teams again," Schafer said. "Six out of the seven games, we've lost the special teams game. We've talked about chemistry and we have to make changes for tomorrow."

Castagna evened the game up at 1-all with under three minutes to play in the first period, deflecting a shot by Rego from the point in the mid-slot after the Cornell blueliner kept the puck inside Cornell's attacking zone on a failed clearing attempt by the Bobcats.



Following a scoreless second period, Quinnipiac took the lead eight-plus minutes into the third as Pelosi ripped a wrist shot from the low slot off a feed from Anthony Cipollone behind the Big Red net, beating Shane to his high-glove hand.

Cornell peppered Silverstein with seven shot attempts with an extra attacker over the final two-plus minutes. The Big Red's last attempt, which came off the stick of Rego, rang off the post and led to Marcellus depositing a 130-foot shot into an empty Big Red net.

GAME NOTES
• Friday was the 52nd meeting between Cornell and Quinnipiac, with the Big Red's lead in the series getting trimmed to 27-21-4. Cornell and Quinnipiac have alternated wins in the last six meetings between the two ECAC Hockey rivals.

• With his assist on Castagna's goal, Rego has three points over his last two games (1-2—3). It is Rego's first point streak since scoring a goal against Harvard last Jan. 26 and adding an assist against Dartmouth the following night.

• Along with his first-period goal, Castagna won a team-high 12 faceoffs on Friday, the second-highest total in a game for the sophomore after he won a career-high 13 draws last Saturday against Harvard. Over the last two contests, Castagna has won 61 percent of the draws he has taken (25-of-41).

• Sophomore defenseman George Fegaras made his season debut for the Big Red, logging a shot on goal and blocking two Quinnipiac shots.

• The contest with Quinnipiac marked the fifth time since the inception of the USCHO.com poll before the 1997-98 season that Cornell played three consecutive regular-season games against ranked ECAC Hockey opponents. The previous instance, ironically, occurred in the same order: No. 20-ranked Dartmouth (Jan. 24, 2020), No. 16-ranked Harvard (Jan. 25, 2020), and No. 18-ranked Quinnipiac (Jan. 31, 2020).

UP NEXT
Cornell will conclude its weekend homestand when it welcomes Princeton (1-3-1, 1-3-1 ECAC Hockey) to Lynah Rink on Saturday, Nov. 23, for a 7 p.m. puck drop. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+ and over the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, cortacatoday.com).

The Tigers are coming off a 2-1 loss to Colgate on Friday at the Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, N.Y. Drew Garzone scored the Tigers' only goal on the night, benefiting from Miles Gunty's pass. Ethan Pearson stopped 17 Colgate shots on the night.

Saturday will be the 163rd meeting between the Ivy League rivals. The Big Red is 100-54-8 all-time against the Tigers, and the 100 wins are the most against a single opponent in program history.

Since being shut out by Princeton, 1-0, on Feb. 9, 2013, Cornell is 19-4-0 against the Tigers and has scored three goals nine times in the last 10 games (3.90 goals per contest) and 19 of the previous 23 matchups (3.78 goals per game).

Under Mike Schafer '86, Cornell is 24-5-1 at Lynah Rink against Princeton. The .817 win percentage is the second-highest clip against an active member of ECAC Hockey, trailing Brown (24-3-2 — .862).