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 of Quinnipiac’s goals to lift the No. 6-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, including 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 a shot in the mid-slot after Jack Johnson took a wrist shot from the left point following a Quinnipiac faceoff win. TJ Friedmann, who won the faceoff, also was credited with an assist on the tally.
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 pair of chances to net the game-tying goal with four power play opportunities, including a 5-on-3 chance, but Cornell was only allowed to register one shot on goal 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 and the teams have combined to score an average of 3.58 goals per game.
• 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.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].