HAMDEN, Conn. — The Cornell men’s hockey team had a game stolen by Quinnipiac back in November, but returned the favor on Saturday night. The Big Red erased a two-goal deficit with four goals in the second period, then sophomore forward Trevor Yates scored the winner 5 minutes, 44 seconds into the third to lift 15th-ranked Cornell to a 5-4 victory over #1/1 Quinnipiac in Game 2 of an ECAC Hockey Championship quarterfinal at High Point Solutions Arena.
The Big Red victory ties the series at 1, with a winner-take-all Game 3 schedule for a 4 p.m. start Sunday, giving an air of familiarity since the teams also went to a third game in a quarterfinal series in 2013.
With the game tied at 4, the build-up to the winning goal started when senior forward Christian Hilbrich‘s feed toward sophomore forward Dwyer Tschantz on the rush slid through the slot and to the far boards. Tschantz was able to circle around and gain control, then work his way into enough space to find Yates parked just off the slot. He flipped a shot over the shoulder of Quinnipiac goalie Michael Garteig into the roof of the net. The Bobcats played much of the final three minutes with Garteig pulled for an extra attacker, but the Big Red was able to hold on.
Freshman forward Mitch Vanderlaan, junior forward Jeff Kubiak and Hilbrich had a goal and an assist apiece for the eighth-seeded Big Red (16-10-7), with erase a pair of two-goal Quinnipiac (26-3-7) leads. Junior goaltender Mitch Gillam made 11 of his 24 saves in the third period.
With its proverbial back against the wall, Cornell came out with a solid performance in the first period. The Big Red had the first six shots on goal in the game, but Quinnipiac made the most of its minimal opportunities. The Bobcats’ first shot on target came when an open Chase Priskie picked an upper corner from the circle, then a poor line change led to a three-on-one goal by Tommy Schutt 31 seconds later to put the Big Red in a very sudden 2-0 hole.
The Big Red once again roared back to start the second, in which it produced four goals in a period for the first time since Nov. 16, 2013 (a 5-2 win at St. Lawrence). Vanderlaan got it started with a shot through traffic from the right circle that found the net just 57 seconds into the period to ignite the visitors. But not only did Quinnipiac draw a 52-second two-man advantage just a few minutes later, one of the Cornell defenseman typically called upon to kill on those situations was one of the players in the box. Freshman defenseman Alec McCrea stepped in nicely, joining junior forward Eric Freschi and senior defenseman Reece Willcox for a crucial kill in which Gillam made five saves and Freschi blocked a quality scoring chance as the advantage was expiring.
Still, Quinnipiac was next to score on K.J. Tiefenwerth’s goal, but Cornell answered right back 58 seconds later on Kubiak’s 10th goal of the season. Freshman forward Anthony Angello took a shot from the slot which hit traffic and Vanderlaan parked on top of the crease. Kubiak fished the puck out of all the skates and pocketed a shot inside the far post, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
On its third and final power play of the night, Cornell pulled even for the first time on junior forward Matt Buckles‘ seventh goal of the season and second of the postseason. The Big Red entered the zone with a hard ring around the boards, and a Quinnipiac defender was first to the puck on the weak side. But the puck kicked back toward goal with some pace, then caromed off another Quinnipiac player and into the crease. Buckles opportunistic emerged at the far post to swat it past Garteig, tying the game at 3.
The scoring barrage continued on Priskie’s second goal of the game just 58 seconds later. But the Big Red countered again with a highlight reel goal from Hilbrich, whose brother, Tom, plays for Quinnipiac. Hilbrich pulled the puck out of traffic in the corner, then toe-dragged around a defender as he maneuvered toward the slot before sweeping a shot inside the far post.
The five-goal output matched the Big Red’s season high, matching efforts against Colgate on Nov. 13, Clarkson on Dec. 5 and Merrimack on Jan. 9. But total of nine goals in the contest matched just one other occasion this season — a 5-4 overtime victory by Quinnipiac on Nov. 7 in which the Big Red had leads of 3-0 and 4-1.
