February 23, 2011

Team Notes: Quinnipiac Travels to Union and RPI for Pivotal Weekend Series

The Capital District
Quinnipiac will head to the Capital District to take on nationally-ranked Union and RPI this weekend. The Bobcats, in the hunt for home ice in the upcoming ECAC Hockey Tournament, will play No. 5/7 Union on Friday, Feb. 25 at Messa Rink at 7 p.m. before heading to Troy, N.Y. to take on No. 13/14 Rensselaer Polytecnic Institute on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. at the Houston Field House.

Playoff Picture
Quinnipiac (17 pts.) is currently tied for seventh place with Clarkson (17) heading into the final weekend of the ECAC Hockey Regular Season. With the ECAC Hockey Championships First Round series set to kick-off next weekend, the only thing left to do is figure out where they'll be played. First-place Union (33) and second-place Yale (32) have locked up first-round byes and will be home for the quarterfinals. Dartmouth (24), Cornell (24), RPI (23) and Princeton (22) have also secured home ice for the first round. Dartmouth needs four points this weekend, and Cornell would need three, to fill-out the top four spots and receive a first-round bye, while RPI and Princeton can finish anywhere from third to sixth. Clarkson can grab home ice for the first round with one point this weekend, while the Bobcats would need two. Brown and St. Lawrence can also jockey for position this weekend while Harvard and Colgate will travel for the first round.

Multimedia Information
Paul Pacelli and Todd Carroll will have the call of both games this weekend, which can be heard by tuning your dial to WQUN 1220 AM or WPOP 1410 AM for Friday night's game, while only WQUN will carry the game on Saturday. Bobcat fans can also direct their browsers to www.WQUN.com or the Official Athletics Website of Quinnipiac Athletics, www.QuinnipiacBobcats.com.

All-Time Against Union
Quinnipiac and Union have faced each other 19 time since their first match-up on Dec. 3, 2000, with the Dutchmen winning 10 games in the all-time series, which also featured one tie. Union defeated the Bobcats earlier this season, 3-2 in overtime, on Feb. 4. In 10 games at Union's Messa Rink, Quinnipiac has a 5-4-1 record.

Scouting The Dutchmen
Union currently sits in first place in the ECAC Hockey standings, while also being ranked fifth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and seventh in the USCHO.com Division I poll. The Dutchmen have won nine straight games, with their last loss coming on Friday, Jan. 21 against Dartmouth. In 16 games at Messa Rink, Union boasts a 14-1-1 record. Kelly Zajac leads the Dutchmen in assists (25) and points (37) and is one of four 30-point scorers in Union's lineup. Jeremy Walsh (15-20--35) lands just behind Zajac while the Dutchmen's leading goal-scorer Daniel Carr has tallied 18 goals and 14 assists for 32 points in his first season. Josh Jooris (9-21--30) and Adam Presizniuk (11-17--28) fill out the Dutchmen's top five. In goal, Keith Kinkaid has a 23-7-2 record with a .919 save percentage and a 2.00 goals-against average.

All-Time Against Rensselaer
Quinnipiac and RPI have met 16 times since their first match-up on Oct. 16, 1999, with the Bobcats posting a 5-6-5 all-time record against the Engineers. Quinnipiac and RPI skated to a 3-3 tie on Saturday, Feb. 5. The Bobcats lost the first four meetings before posting a seven-game undefeated streak (5-0-2) against RPI from 2006 through 2009. Quinnipiac has not defeated RPI in their last four meetings (0-2-2) and are 4-5-1 all-time at Houston Field House.

Scouting The Engineers
RPI is currently 19-9-4 overall and 11-8-1 in ECAC Hockey. The Engineers are currently ranked 13th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and 14th in the USCHO.com Division I poll. In 15 games at the Houston Field House, the Engineers carry a 12-3-0 record. Chase Polacek leads the team in goals (18), assists (25) and points (43), while his goal and point totals lead ECAC Hockey. Tyler Helrich (13-19--32) and Nick Bailen (8-24--32) give the Dutchmen three 30-point scorers for the year. In goal, Allen York is 17-7-3 with an ECAC Hockey leading, and second-best nationally, 1.99 goals-against average.

Last Time Out
Against Brown on Feb. 6, Quinnipiac tied the Bears, 2-2, at the TD Bank Sports Center. Scott Zurevinski and Russell Goodman both scored for the Bobcats.

The Captain Leads
Junior captain Scott Zurevinski currently leads the Bobcats with 21 points on 12 goals and nine assists. Zurevinski is the team's leading scorer in the Bobcats last six games, totaling two goals and four assists.

The 59th Annual Walter Brown Award
Quinnipiac sophomore Eric Hartzell (White Bear Lake, Minn.) has been announced as one of 15 semifinalists for the prestigious Walter Brown Award, given annually by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston. The award, now in its 59th year, honors the top American-born NCAA Division I men's ice hockey player in New England. Hartzell was one of five players from ECAC Hockey announced as semifinalist, and one of four goalies on the list. The sophomore goalie has had a break-out season, posting a 10-5-4 record with a .926 save percentage and a 2.28 goals-against average.