The No. 1 Quinnipiac men’s hockey team suffered only its second loss this season, falling 4-0 to No. 12/16 Cornell Friday night. The Bobcats, who came into the game at 18-1-3, were shut out for the first time since Oct. 22, against Maine.

The star of tonight’s game was Big Red sophomore goaltender Ian Shane, who stopped all 20 Bobcats shots en route to his sixth career shutout. A peak moment for Shane early on was a difficult save he made in the middle stages of the first period that saw a loose puck almost slip by the netminder. 

Cornell senior forward Ben Berard put the hosts on the board first, tipping the puck past Quinnipiac sophomore goaltender Yaniv Perets for a 1-0 lead. The goal was his fifth of the season and foreshadowed what was to come for the Big Red.

The first period ended with a hectic scramble in front of the Quinnipiac net. Quinnipiac senior defenseman Jayden Lee stopped a wrap-around attempt with his skate, causing a commotion on the goalmouth. 

Cornell came out strong in the second period and packed the crease, making it difficult for the Bobcats to get any shots close to Big Red’s goal. To make matters worse for Quinnipiac, freshman forward Dalton Bancroft fired a slapshot on the power play to put the Big Red ahead by two. Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold challenged a potential goaltender interference, but the play stood. 

The only real offensive chance the Bobcats had in the period was a shorthanded breakaway by senior forward Skyler Brind‘Amor, but an invincible Shane put a stop to the attempt. The rest of the period was played mostly in the Bobcats’ zone, however no more goals were scored and both teams exited the ice with Cornell up by two.

The third period brought much of the same, with Cornell increasing the score to 3-0 thanks to  a backhand shot from junior forward Jack O’Leary. Following the play, Pecknold pulled Perets, replacing him with freshman goaltender Chase Clark.

Almost immediately, the Big Red scored their fourth and final goal of the game, which came off the stick of sophomore forward Ondrej Psenicka after Clark misplayed a bouncing puck behind the net. The defensive tactics from Cornell were crucial throughout the rest of the third period as Quinnipiac struggled to even get shots on net. 

Not only was the defense an asset for Cornell, but it lived up to its position as the 10th best penalty kill in the nation. The strong play by the Big Red blueliners forced Quinnipiac to scramble for the puck and struggle to muster up any offensive chances. The Bobcats ultimately went 0-for-3 on the power play, a man-advantage that came into the game situated fourth in the NCAA .

The Bobcats will face the Colgate Raiders tomorrow at 7 p.m. as they look to use tonight’s disappointing result to get back into the win column.