Boxscore

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Quinnipiac University men's hockey team lost the first game of the ECAC Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals, 11-0, to Harvard behind a hat trick by Dave Watters. Quinnipiac now faces elimination in the best-of-three series, set to resume on Saturday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at the Bright Hockey Center. 

Watters had a hand in five of Harvard's 11 total goals as he also had two assists on the night. David MacDonald added a goal and two assists for the Crimson who are now a win away from advancing to the ECAC Hockey Semifinals in Albany, N.Y. next weekend.

Harvard scored their first goal of the game at the 3:03 mark of the first period. The Bobcats failed to clear the puck out of their zone as Doug Rogers took possession by the goal line behind the right face-off circle. Rogers dug the puck out and found Mike Taylor out in front of the Bobcats' goal. Taylor's backhand ticked off of Quinnipiac goalie Bud Fisher's glove and trickled over the goal line to give the Crimson an early 1-0 lead.

Harvard took a two-goal lead at the 5:33 mark when Dave Watters pushed a loose puck past Fisher. Alex Meintel connected with Alex Biega who's shot on goal was stopped by Fisher. Watters put a rush on the Quinnipiac net and was able to knock the puck past Fisher to give Harvard a 2-0 lead.

Harvard's third goal came at the 9:29 mark when Tyler Magura found David MacDonald to the left of the Quinnipiac goal. MacDonald then hooked up with Steve Rolecek for Rolecek's first goal of the season. The Crimson would tack another goal at the 10:51 marker when Matt McCollem netted his fifth goal of the year on assists from Taylor and Rogers to give Harvard a 4-0 lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the second period.

Harvard took a five goal lead at the 15:09 mark of the second when Paul Dufault's shot on goal was blocked by Fisher and was deflected to the right of the goal. Watters came up with the puck along the boards behind the Quinnipiac goal and beat the defender to the front of the goal. His backhand, wraparound clanged off the far post and into the goal to give Quinnipiac a 5-0 lead.

The goal would end Fisher's day as he was lifted in favor of freshman Pat McGann with just over three minutes to play in the period. Less than a minute after entering the game, McGann quickly gave up a goal to Rogers. Rogers control the puck between the face-off circles and wristed a shot from the point. The puck found the top left corner of the net, beating McGann gloveside. McDonald and McCollem were credited with assists on the play. Pier-Olivier Michaud then scored with 23 seconds remaining in the period to give Harvard a 7-0 lead. McCollem received a pass and took off, beating the Quinnipiac defenders and leaving him one-on-one with McGann. Meintel and Watters were awarded assists on the play.

Harvard extended their lead to 8-0 just 1:15 into the third period. Biega connected with Taylor who found Jon Pelle streaking to the net. Pelle's shot beat McGann to the lower left corner of the net. Watters' third goal of the game at the 3:34 mark of the third period when he got the rebound off a shot by McCollem and slid it past McGann. Jimmy Fraser was also credited with an assist on the play.

MacDonald scored the Crimson's 10^th goal of the game at the 5:46 mark of the third. MacDonald's blast came from outside the left face-off circle and beat McGann to the upper left corner. Watters picked up an assist on the play. Harvard's Rolecek scored at the 12:56 mark of the third period on assists from Magura and Fraser.

The Bobcats and the Crimson will meet again in the second game of the ECAC Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals on Saturday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at the Bright Hockey Center on the Cambridge, Mass. campus of Harvard University.