Photo courtesy, Quinnipiac Athletics
It’s the ten seed traveling to play the number one seed and conference champions. If only the matchup looked as easy on the ice as it does on paper.
The Cleary Cup winning Quinnipiac Bobcats are hosting the defending national champion Union Dutchmen in a best of three ECAC quarterfinals in Hamden. The picture gets increasingly complex the more you look at it.
The Bobcats swept the season series by a 4-3 final both times. In Union’s last visit to Hamden, Quinnipiac scored four goals in the first two periods, but Union was able to come back in the third period with three straight goals.
Before his team’s practice on Wednesday, Union coach Rick Bennett discussed the last matchup between the two teams.
“Down there that [4-3 loss] was not pretty at all. I know we scored three in the end, but I gotta thank Quinnipiac for that, for letting up there at the end for the last eight minutes or so.”
But the last six weeks of the regular season have been rather hit or miss for the Dutchmen, going through a five game losing streak in February. With their season on the line, Union won it’s last two in ECAC play and the first two games of the ECAC playoffs, upsetting number seven Cornell at home.
The first game was evenly paced, with the difference coming in three second-period goals by Union. The second game was a 7-0 blowout, with three of the goals coming in the opening stanza. Twelve of 18 skaters for the Dutchmen came away with at least a point in the series clinching game two.
The victories and sweep against Cornell also marks the first time in Union history for a team to come away with a postseason series victory on the road.
Being the visitor has not fazed the Dutchmen yet this season, as they posted a 10-6-1 away record, compared to their 6-8-1 mark in Schenectady. So it seems that the difference between one and ten is negated.
There are three factors that will help to determine which team will be heading to Lake Placid in the race for the Whitelaw Cup and the automatic NCAA tournament bid that comes along with it.
The first factor is goaltending. Colin Stevens is back in his elite form, stopping 57 of 59 shots in the two games against Cornell, including the shutout that clinched the series for the Dutchmen. One of the two goals he surrendered was on a power play for the Big Red.
Two hundred feet away, Michael Garteig has been playing arguably his best hockey of the season, bringing his goals against down to 1.98. His well-timed saves and stronger rebound control have helped the Bobcats go 5-1-4 in its last ten games.
The real driving force for Union against Cornell was the constant pressure against the backcheck. The Dutchmen took advantage of defensive breakdowns, sloppy coverage and light stick checks and poor rebound control by Cornell during the series.
This coupled with the quick spurts of offense could prove too much to handle for a young Quinnipiac defense.
Regardless of the numbers and history, these two clubs come in with a lot of respect for one another.
“You know, this is an excellent hockey club. They finished first for a reason,” Bennett said. “It’s going to be a huge test for us.”
