QU topples Merrimack in regional semifinal
BRIDGEPORT — A physical, up-and-down first period ended with the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team holding a 14-7 shots advantage against Merrimack but goose eggs on the scoreboard.
That changed quickly when play resumed.
Joey Cipillone and Jacob Quillan scored goals 1:34 apart early in the second period, breaking open a scoreless game and propelling the Bobcats to a 5-0 victory over Merrimack in the NCAA Division I first round Friday night at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport.
Quinnipiac (31-4-3), the top seed in the region and No. 2 seed in the tournament, will face Ohio State (21-15-3) in the regional final at 4 p.m., Sunday, in Bridgeport.
The Buckeyes smashed Harvard 8-1 in Friday’s early game, building leads of 2-0 after one period and 7-0 after the second.
Quinnipiac and Ohio State will be meeting for the 10th time overall, but the first in an NCAA tournament. The Bobcats won the last meeting in 2012 and own a 5-3-1 record against Ohio State.
Quinnipiac had the better of play in the first period against Merrimack, but came away with nothing to show for it, thanks in large part to the play of Warriors’ goalie Zachary Borgiel.
Borgiel stood tall on several good chances for the Bobcats, including a sprawling kick save on Christophe Tellier at the left post after a pass across the net from Christophe Fillon.
With the scoreless tie after one, the Bobcats “stayed the course,” according to Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold.
“It’s hockey; it is what it is,” Pecknold said. “We’ve
just got to keep grinding. We talk all the time about grinding out wins and that’s what we did tonight. We’re not the sexiest team on the planet, we’re not perfect, but we ground and grind and get rewarded for it.”
The Bobcats scored twice on their first three shots in the second period.
Cipillone scored the first goal off the skate of a defenseman at 1:56, with defensemen Jayden Lee and CJ McGee getting assists.
Just 1:33 later, Quinnipiac made it 2-0 after a stop in the defensive zone led to a rush. Quillan fed the puck to Sam Lipkin on the left side, and Lipkin returned it to Quillan for a wrister. Linemate Collin Graf also had an assist on the play.
“Tournaments like this, there’s a lot of pressure, a lot of high stakes, and big moments,” Cipollone said. “For us, the focus was just take it one shift at a time, especially with all the media timeouts, there were a lot of resets.
“It’s a long game out there, but with our veteran group, we’re confident in ourselves and we showed that tonight.”
The Bobcats’ defense was superb, holding the Warriors to just four shots on goal in the second frame and 15 overall, with goalie Yaniv Perets earning the team’s 10th shutout of the season. They have held opponents to one or no goals in 19 of their 38 games.
“We did a good job of preparing for Merrimack,” Pecknold said. “They’re physical, they play hard, you get in a lot of battles, and they have a great compete level.”
Three goals in the third period nailed down the win for Quinnipiac. Michael Lombardi whipped in the third goal with 13:32 to play, with assists from Zach Metsa and TJ Friedmann, and Quillan netted his second with an assist from Lipkin with 5:15 remaining.
An empty-netter for Lipkin was the final goal.
“We feel fortunate,” Pecknold said. “We played well. The guys really bought into what we need to do to be successful, played to our identity and got rewarded for it.”