NEW YORK — One week ago, Quinnipiac men’s hockey upset then No. 6 Cornell 3-1 on the road — a feat it hadn’t achieved since 2018.
Saturday evening, 16,593 people — the highest attendance in college hockey this season — saw the No. 11 Big Red take a shootout win in a 3-3 tie at Madison Square Garden in the 2024 Frozen Apple.
And it was largely determined by penalties.
The short-handed mishap
Things looked bleak from the beginning for Quinnipiac, mirroring six of its previous losses this season and being forced to come from behind.
Ignoring Saturday, the Bobcats were 2-6 when surrendering the first goal and 0-4 when trailing after the opening frame.
And for a period and a half, The Frozen Apple checked both of these boxes as senior left wing Sullivan Mack put Cornell on the board just two minutes following the first faceoff.
But that wasn’t really the problem.
Quinnipiac forwards junior Jeremy Wilmer flopping over sophomore Mason Marcellus on the power play and leaving a loose puck for Cornell to scoop up was.
“The short end goal was embarrassing,” Pecknold said. “We just need to get better, we lack urgency at times.”
The collision gave the Big Red a 2v1 advantage over freshman netminder Dylan Silverstein which ultimately ended in a goal from junior forward Dalton Bancroft.
2-0 Big Red going into the locker room.
The power play nugget
Quinnipiac’s second period was arguably its strongest and most cohesive of the season.
“There were a ton of positives tonight,” Pecknold said. “A lot of guys played really well, (we) just have to mature.”
Fourteen seconds in and with the man-advantage, senior wing Travis Treloar fed a wrap-around pass to sophomore forward Andon Cerbone to open the floodgates and cut the deficit to one.
The Bobcats have had a relatively strong power play unit thus far, clocking in at No. 9 across the league.
Saturday wasn’t much different as they capitalized on the man advantage when necessary. Ultimately it wasn’t enough and a poor shootout determined a high quality outing of Quinnipiac hockey.
The delayed penalty
What really turned the momentum was freshman wing Aaron Schwartz and his backdoor dump-in on a delayed penalty just minutes later.
It was a nearly perfect set up, and the Parkland, Florida, native was able to complete the sequence to give Quinnipiac a clean slate.
“It was huge being down to nothing and believing that we can come back,” Pecknold said. “I mean, that’s the best period we played all year.”
Down a man, up a goal
Graduate student defenseman Cooper Moore has not played up to expectation through the first 13 games. If there was a time to notch his first goal of the season, MSG was the place to do it.
Schwartz came in clutch once again with a pass to Moore who smacked a one-timer past Cornell senior goaltender Ian Shane.
“He was excellent,” Pecknold said. “I thought that was (his) best game of the year. Great kid, great leader and a big time goal.”
3-2 Bobcats to end the second.
The final 20 minutes was all defense. Cornell matched Quinnipiac’s third goal early and from there play slowed considerably on both ends. But the Bobcats mustered just enough fight to bring the game to overtime.
Final thoughts
There hasn’t been much to say about Quinnipiac so far. Through 13 games, it sits at .500 — a jarring 180 from the last two seasons where it’s had a combined 14 losses.
The Bobcats haven’t played complete hockey since the jump — and it’s December.
But to give credit where it’s due, they held their own at MSG, clawing back from being down 2-0 to forcing a shootout that has no effect on standings in a 3-3 tie.
“It was like a seesaw,” Pecknold said. “You gotta play 60 or 65 minutes if you want to win championships.”
Quinnipiac returns to Hamden Dec. 6 and 7 against RPI and Union respectively. Puck drop Friday night is set for 7 p.m.
