Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – Quinnipiac University got a goal and an assist from Jamie Bates (Toronto, ON/Wexford Raiders) and freshman Bud Fisher (Peterborough, ON/Lindsay) made 33 saves to lead the Bobcats to a 4-2 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to sweep the Engineers, 2 games to 0, in the first round of the ECAC Hockey League Playoffs.
The Bobcats, who improve to 19-16-1, advance to next weekend’s ECACHL Quarterfinals against an opponent to be determined. Rensselaer concludes the season with a 14-17-6 record.
After Rensselaer got an early power play goal, Quinnipiac got the next three, all assisted by freshman Brian Leitch (Coquitlam, BC/Merritt). Junior Oren Eizenman (Toronto, ON/Wexford Raiders) put the home team on top just 41 seconds into the game with his team-leading 15th-goal of the season. The Bobcats came right back with a power play goal of their own at the 4:50 mark. Sophomore Ben Nelson (Spokane, WA/Cowichan) scored from the bottom of the left face-off circle off a pass from Bates. Junior defenseman Reid Cashman (Red Wing, MN/Waterloo) gave the visitors a 2-1 lead when he scored a 5-on-3 goal from the right point at 13:55 of the first period. Matt Sorteberg (Anoka, MN/Anoka High School) earned the primary assist while Leitch got the secondary. The Bobcats’ third goal 4:10 later when Bates notched his 20th of the season from the bottom of the left faceoff circle with Leitch earning the only assist.
The Engineers pulled to within one when junior Kevin Broad (Humboldt, SK/Humboldt Broncos), playing his first game since January 14 due to injury, scored on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle. Reed Kipp (Victoria, BC/Vernon Vipers) earned the only assist on the goal, Broad’s seventh of the season. Quinnipiac got the goal back 1:28 later when senior John Kelly scored an unassisted goal on a wrist shot from the top of the right face-off circle.
Fisher finished with 11 saves in the first period, 13 in the second and nine in the third to improve to 17-12-1. Freshman Mathias Lange (Klagenfurt, Austria/New York Apple Core) made 14 saves in the loss for Rensselaer. He finishes the season with a personal record of 13-15-6.
