Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey won its first Whitelaw Cup with a 4-1 win over Harvard in Saturday’s ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship. The victory resulted in the Bobcats (29-3-7) the overall No. 1 seed in the 2016 Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

Quinnipiac is making its fifth-ever (and fourth-straight) NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bobcats’ first-round matchup is against RIT. The Tigers drew the last seed in the NCAA Tournament, sending them to the East Regional in Albany. Last year, RIT beat No. 1 Minnesota-Deluth in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

On Friday morning, Quinnipiac’s leading goal scorer Sam Anas practiced with a red no-contact shirt. The junior was knocked out in the first period of last Saturday’s ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship after being slammed into the boards. His status for Saturday is unknown

Quinnipiac at NCAA East Regional practice day. Sam Anas wearing the red jersey. pic.twitter.com/8Gl6D55GXw

— Chip Malafronte (@ChipMalafronte) March 25, 2016

Sam Anas after his first full practice Friday: "I'm getting better each day. I'm not really sure where that leaves me [for Saturday]."

— Mike Anthony (@ManthonyHearst) March 25, 2016

Quinnipiac and RIT square off at the Times Union Center in Albany at 4 p.m Saturday afternoon.

Here are some more numbers to break down the East Regional semifinal.

· Quinnipiac is 3-1-0 all time against RIT. The last time the two teams met was in 2007.
· The Bobcats are 3-4 all-time in the national tournament, with all three wins coming in 2013 before falling to Yale, who plays UMass-Lowell on the other side of East Regional, in the national title game.
· RIT: 18-14-6, 14-9-5 Atlantic Hockey. It beat Robert Morris 7-4 in Atlantic Hockey Championship to secure the automatic bid to the tournament. Liam Kerins and Myles Powell each scored two goals.
· Against common opponents (Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Colgate, Holy Cross)
RIT: 0-4-2
QU: 5-1-2

More Quinnipiac numbers:
· Top scorers: Sam Anas (23 g, 25a, 48p – 1st Team All-ECAC), Travis St. Denis (20g, 24a, 44p – 2nd Team All-ECAC), Tim Clifton (18g, 20a, 38p, 2nd team All-ECAC).
· Connor Clifton led the conference tournament with eight assists and nine points to earn the 2016 ECAC Most Outstanding Player Award.
· Michael Garteig: 1.90 GAA, .924 sv%, 29-3-7
· The Bobcats are 7-1-1 against the tournament field. The loss came to Boston University and the tie came against Northeastern. The Bobcats downed Harvard three times, beat St. Cloud State twice and topped Yale twice.

More RIT numbers:
· Top scorers: Josh Mitchell (6g, 30a, 36p -16 PP assists), Myles Powell (15g, 17a, 32p – 8 PP goals), Gabe Valenzuela (13g, 15a, 28p)
· RIT split goalie stats:
Mike Rotolo: 2.60 GAA, .908 sv%, 8-7-2
Christian Short: 2.76 GAA, .889 sv%, 8-6-3
· The Tigers made the NCAA Tournament in 2010 and 2015.

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