Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Takes On No. 17 Union In ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals This Weekend

ECAC Hockey Championship Quarterfinal Round
No. 10 Quinnipiac University Bobcats (19-16-2) at
No. 3 Union College Dutchmen (18-10-6)
March 12-14, 2010 - 7 p.m.
Messa Rink - Schenectady, N.Y.

On The Air - AM 1220 WQUN
Bill Schweizer - Play-by-play
Chris Kotsopoulos - Color commentary

On To The Next One
Quinnipiac will head to Schenectady, N.Y. on Friday, March 12 to kick-off the 2010 ECAC Hockey Championship Quarterfinal round against third-seed Union College, nationally-ranked No. 17 in the USCHO.com Division I poll, at 7 p.m. The Bobcats and Dutchmen will play a three-game series this weekend, with all three games scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday's game will only be played if-necessary. The Bobcats are coming off a three-game First-Round series against Dartmouth that saw Quinnipiac win the first and third games to push its first round record to 10-2 all-time. Union received a first-round bye after finishing in third place in the regular-season ECAC Hockey standings. Quinnipiac is 4-6 in the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals all-time.

ECAC Hockey Championship Tournament History
Since joining the league for the 2006-07 season, the Bobcats hold an 15-9 career record in the ECAC Hockey Championship tournament. The Bobcats' carry an 10-2 record in the first round of the tournament, while posting a 4-6 mark in quarterfinal games. Quinnipiac is 1-0 in semifinal games and 0-1 in the championship game. Quinnipiac's most successful postseason came in 2007 when the Bobcats swept Union at home before upsetting Cornell at Lynah Rink in two games in the quarterfinals. Quinnipiac continued their run, knocking off St. Lawrence, 4-0, in the semifinals before falling to Clarkson in the Championship Game, 4-2. Quinnipiac led in that game, 2-0, heading into the third period. It was the last time Quinnipiac lost after leading after two periods.

All-Time Against Union
Quinnipiac and Union have met 15 times, with the Bobcats holding an 8-6-1 record in the all-time series. Quinnipiac won seven of the first eight games between the two teams between 2000 and 2007, while Union has posted a 5-1-1 record in the last seven meetings, including three straight wins. Quinnipiac is 4-3-0 all-time on its home ice against Union, including a 2-3-0 mark against the Dutchmen at the TD Bank Sports Center following a 2-1 overtime loss on Jan. 9, 2010. At Messa Rink, Quinnipiac is 4-2-1, with its last win on the Dutchmen's home ice on Nov. 14, 2008. Quinnipiac is also 2-0-0 against Union in the ECAC Hockey Tournament, dating back to the 2007 First-Roun series in Hamden, Conn.

Scouting Union
Union finished the season at 18-10-6 overall and 12-6-4 in ECAC Hockey play to clinch the third seed and the first-round bye for the ECAC Hockey tournament. Union has won just twice in its last five games, which includes back-to-back losses in their final ECAC Hockey weekend, while posting a 5-4-1 mark in its last 10. Union is also nationally-ranked at No. 18 in the USCHO.com Division I poll. Senior defenseman Mike Schreiber was named First Team All-ECAC Hockey, while senior forward Mario Valery-Trabucco was named second team. Freshman goaltender Keith Kinkaid was added to the third team and to the all-rookie team. Schreiber set a Union record for most points by a defenseman with 28, which also leads the conference. Valery-Trabucco finished second in the league in scoring with 32 conference points and set the Dutchmen's single season record with 42 points and 21 goals. Kinkaid posted an 11-6-2 record with a .905 save percentage.

The Mighty 300
With a 2-1 win against Dartmouth on Sunday, March 7, that also sent the Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team to the 2010 ECAC Hockey Championship Quarterfinals against Union, Bobcats head coach Rand Pecknold won his 300th career game. Pecknold becomes the 67th coach in NCAA Division I Ice Hockey history to reach the 300-win mark.

Milestone Watch: Complete
Last Friday's win against Dartmouth featured a pair of milestones, as seniors Eric Lampe and Jean-Marc Beaudoin both reached the 100-point mark for their careers. The four-year teammates converted on their 100th points on the same goal, with an across-crease pass from Lampe finding Beaudoin's tape for what would be the game-winning goal. Beaudoin had a hand in all three goals for Quinnipiac on Friday night, setting up Lampe for his 12th goal of the year and Brandon Wong for his team-leading 18th. Beaudoin now has 12 points in his last seven games.

Not Quite 20, But Still Good
Quinnipiac improves to 19-16-2 on the year, giving Pecknold his 12th year in his last 13 behind the bench with 19 wins.

Did I Catch a Niner In There?
With a first-round series against Dartmouth, Quinnipiac has now played 9 of the 11 other teams in ECAC Hockey. The only two teams in the league Quinnipiac hasn't seen in the postseason in its five-year history in the league are Yale and Princeton.

Double-Deuce
When Ben Ketchum scored his first career goal against Dartmouth on Sunday, March 7, he became the 22nd Quinnipiac player to score a goal this season. The mark ties the Quinnipiac Division I record for most players with a goal, set by the 1999-2000 team that featured 22 different goal-scorers.

Closing The Door
Last season, Quinnipiac was 16-0-0 in games in which it led after the second period. In their last 50 games in that scenario, dating back three seasons, Quinnipiac is undefeated at 46-0-4 when playing with a lead heading into the final frame. The Bobcats last loss,when leading after the second period, came in the 2006-07 ECAC Hockey Championship Game when Clarkson scored four third period goals to come-from-behind and take the league crown.

TD Bank Sports Center History
Since the door's opened on Quinnipiac University's state-of-the-art arena on Jan. 27, 2007, the Bobcats have played 62 games on their home ice, posting a 36-20-6 record.