Bobcats finish off sweep of Bulldogs

NEW HAVEN — It was a pair of freshmen that led the Quinnipiac men’s hockey team into the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals.

Odeen Tufto had a goal and an assist while goaltender Keith Petruzzelli came within 7 minutes of a shutout as the Bobcats defeated Yale 3-1 before a sellout crowd of 3,500 at Ingalls Rink.

With the win the Bobcats (16-16-4) swept Yale two games to none in the bestof-3 first-round series. Since joining the ECAC 13 seasons ago, Quinnipiac has won at least one playoff series. Its opponent next weekend is to be determined, contingent on the results of two series that went to third games.

Rensselaer plays Colgate while St. Lawrence takes on Dartmouth. Both games are tonight. If both higher seeds win, Quinnipiac would head to top-seeded Cornell. Other possible destinations are secondseeded Union and thirdseeded Clarkson.

Princeton, the seventhseed, defeated Brown 7-1 to complete a sweep on Saturday night.

Yale finished the season 15-15-1.

Quinnipiac had the decided edge in play during the first period. In what was a continuation of the previous night, the Bobcats were first to every loose puck while cycling and passing with little opposition.

Sophomore goalie Corbin Kaczperski was the difference for Yale early on. The

sophomore goaltender stopped 11 shots, including a huge denial on the Bobcats lone power play of the period.

Yale finally got something going offensively in the final two minutes, and had a late flurry interrupted by the horn ending the first period.

The Bobcats scored twice

in the second period, with freshman forward Odeen Tufto in the middle of both goals.

Tufto, who entered the weekend leading the country with 31 assists, found himself with the puck behind the Yale cage. He threw a no-look, backhanded feed out front that eluded two Bulldog sticks and found defenseman Chase Priskie on the far post. Priskie, who has feasted on Yale during his

career, buried a one-timer to make it 1-0.

Seven minutes later, Tanner MacMaster sent a cross ice feed to Tufto, who had plenty of time to line up and pick a spot for his ninth goal of the season.

Midway through the third period, the Bobcats put the game away. Defenseman Brogan Rafferty finished a rush with a nice move and backhander past Kaczperski to make it a three-goal lead.

Kevin O’Neil spoiled Petruzzelli’s shutout bid, scoring Yale’s lone goal with 6:39 remaining.

The Bulldogs pressed in the closing minutes, using an extra attacker to close the gap to one goal, but were unsuccessful. Alex Whalen scored an emptynet goal for the second straight night to make it a 4-1 game, ending Yale’s chances. Corey Davis Devin Davis Galen Robinson Rob Gray Breaon Brady