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  • Previewing Quinnipiac men’s hockey’s roster in 2025-26

    Previewing Quinnipiac men’s hockey’s roster in 2025-26

    By: Brandon Murdock and Tyler Platz

    Following an underwhelming season, the young Bobcats failed to reach the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 season. QU Sports Page’s Brandon Murdock and Tyler Platz took a look at who the team will bring back and where it can improve for next season.

    Key Returners

    Forwards

    Jeremy Wilmer, Sr.

    15 goals – 25 assists – 40 points 

    Wilmer led the team and came second in the ECAC in points in his first season in Hamden after transferring over from Boston University. He continued his success in the postseason with a pair of goals in four games. He will be someone the Bobcats lean on to lead the scoring next season.

    Mason Marcellus, Jr.

    10 goals – 28 assists – 38 points 

    Marcellus has been a prominent force on offense for the Bobcats since arriving on the scene last season, leading the team in total points since his collegiate debut. While struggling in the goal scoring department this season, Marcellus remains an elite playmaker racking up 28 assists.

    Andon Cerbone, Jr.

    15 goals – 20 assists – 35 points 

    Cerbone finished top five in the ECAC in points with 35 this season and will look to improve on that total heading into next season. As one of the veteran forwards coming back, he will look to lead a young group to help revamp the team’s offense for next season.

    Defensemen:

    Charlie Leddy, Sr.

    1 goal – 10 assists – 11 points

    Prior to the Gilson transfer news, Leddy was penciled in to be the oldest  upperclassmen on the blue line heading into next season. He made plenty of plays a year ago, racking up 11 assists on the season and will look to be an anchor in the defensive zone come October.

    Elliott Groenewold, So.

    4 goals – 8 assists – 12 points 

    The fourth round pick of the Boston Bruins had an impressive first season in Hamden playing alongside graduate defensemen Aaron Bohlinger. Groenewold led the returning d-core in points last season and will look to build on that offense and step up as a leader heading into next season.

    Drew Hockley, So.

    1 goal – 3 assists – 4 points 

    Hockley came to the team in January and didn’t miss a beat, playing in 23 games for the Bobcats. Head coach Rand Pecknold showed a lot of confidence in Hockley as he split time with defenseman Davis Pennington quarterbacking one of the top power plays in the country. 

    Goalies:

    Matej Marinov, Jr.

    12-3-0 1.75 GAA

    Marinov played in 17 games this season and dominated in his time. It seemed like he took control of the net as heading into the NCAA tournament game against UConn, playing in all the postseason games, but Pecknold made the switch to Dylan Silverstein for the biggest game.

    Dylan Silverstein, So

    12-9-2 2.25 GAA

    Silverstein played in the majority of the games this season and seemed like a clear No. 1 choice for the Bobcats this season. That was until the playoffs came and Marinov took over. While the numbers impressed, there were moments that Silverstein looked over his head in the bigger games.

    The Bobcats will bring back 11 forwards, including three of their top-four point scorers. They will also be bringing back four of their defensemen from a year ago on top of both of their goalies.

    Despite the early postseason exit, the team still see’s the season as a success.

    “A great year for us,” Pecknold said following the UConn loss. “I thought this would be a rebuild or a reload year, but we were better.” 

    Despite the optimism, there is still work to be done for next season.

    Where they need help

    From the forward group, the Bobcats will lose their third highest point getter in Travis Treloar (36), as well as their top goal scorer in Jack Ricketts (20). Either through the transfer portal or the incoming freshman class, the team, which was sixth in the nation this past season in goals per game with 3.55, will need to replace a combined 36 goals and 63 points of offense between the two graduating forwards. For that, they will also look to lean on other returning players such as rising sophomores Chris Pelosi, Tyler Borgula and Aaron Schwartz.

    For defense, the team will lose a lot of experience in the form of Aaron Bohlinger, Davis Pennington and Cooper Moore moving on, either to graduation or the pros. They have already started making moves in that area with the addition of former RPI junior defenseman Will Gilson out of the transfer portal. Don’t be surprised when Pecknold dips back in to add another experienced blue liner to his young position group. 

    https://twitter.com/MikeMcMahonCHN/status/1907223464580165649

    In two games for RPI against the Bobcats this season, a 6-2 and 3-1 pair of Bobcats wins, Gilson was a bright spot, racking two blocked shots and three shots on goal. 

    In net, the team may need to find a new netminder to compete. It would not come as a surprise to see one of the two current goalies enter the portal at some point, given the irregularity of playing time throughout the season.For now, while both are on the roster, it is important to make a firm decision on who is No. 1. This would allow for them to know their particular role as either the starter or the back up and for whomever is picked to build confidence heading into the season.

    New leadership core

    Quinnipiac’s leadership will also have a different look next season with all four captains leaving. The next group of Bobcats needs to step up and set the tone for what will be a new team in 2025-26.

    Expect Marcellus to be named team captain, with senior forwards Wilmer and Victor Czerneckianair likely wearing the ‘A’ as alternate captains up front. To round out the group, Leddy on defense could also serve as an alternate captain.

    Marcellus finished second on the team in scoring with 38 points. Already leading on the scoresheet, his voice carries weight. Part of the Bobcats’ identity next season could come down to what he’s learned from the now-departed upperclassmen.

    “I’ve learned kind of something different from every single one of them,” Marcellus said after Quinnipiac’s NCAA Tournament loss. “They all kind of have their different ways of leading, whether they had a letter or not.”

    Marcellus’ role on this team has the potential to extend beyond putting points on the board, as he could be heading into his biggest season yet.

    With plenty of losses on the back end, the Bobcats will need leadership in that area. On defense, Leddy will be one of the only remaining seniors on defense who is an in-house name. With experience playing both at Boston College and Quinnipiac, Leddy has a leadership position carved out for him. 

    He’ll be tasked with leading younger defensemen such as sophomores Groenewold and Hockley in the upcoming season. Leddy’s steady presence could help keep this team’s defensive core in the long run, even after he’s graduated.

    Common themes of struggle

    In 2024-25, the Bobcats dropped six of their first nine games to open the season. However, they managed to dig out of that hole, eventually reaching the ECAC semifinals and the first round of the NCAA tournament, thanks to an at-large bid.

    It was promising to see Quinnipiac recover over the course of the season, but improving its start in the early months of the season will be critical for a return to the playoffs in 2025-26. No team avoids roster turnover, and having a slow start with a new team could be detrimental to the Bobcats’ season and derail them from finding a groove as the season moves along.

    A strong start for a team that will have several new faces could be pivotal in building chemistry.

    Situational hockey, particularly in the waning moments of a game, carries the utmost importance. Yet for the Bobcats, managing these instances was a sporadic challenge recurring over the course of this past season. 

    In an Oct. 19 game against Maine, Quinnipiac led 5-4 in the third period. With just under 30 seconds left in the game, the Bobcats allowed the Black Bears’ junior defenseman Brandon Holt to score, tying the game at five and sending the game into overtime. The collapse was complete just four minutes into the extra period, with senior defenseman David Breazeale netting the game-winner.

    Chalk this letdown up to early season struggles, but Quinnipiac experienced a similar letdown in the postseason. In the ECAC playoff semifinals against Cornell, the Bobcats positioned themselves to advance, holding a 2-1 lead in the third period after a goal from freshman forward Chris Pelosi with five minutes remaining.

    In the final two minutes of regulation, senior forward Kyler Kovich buried a shorthanded goal, knotting the game at 2-2. Quinnipiac once again squandered its third-period lead when senior defenseman Tim Rego sealed the game 3-2.

    Breakdowns like these, five months apart nonetheless, were troubling for Quinnipiac. The new roster next season needs to focus on improving late-game performances or, at the very least, learn from these past struggles early in the season.

    The Bobcats have their work cut out for them based on their confirmed non-conference opponents in 2025-26. They’ll open the season in October at the Ice Breaker tournament, hosted by Arizona State, where they’ll face a competitive bracket that includes ASU, Alaska and Notre Dame.

    In January, Quinnipiac will look to avenge this season’s loss in the CT Ice tournament. The Bobcats will once again be joined by Sacred Heart, Yale and UConn — the same UConn team that ended Quinnipiac’s NCAA tournament run in the first round. 

    Their non-conference schedule isn’t getting any easier, so how well Quinnipiac can adjust during this off-season could make or break the season ahead.

  • Pecknold explains goaltending decision in Quinnipiac’s NCAA Tournament loss

    Pecknold explains goaltending decision in Quinnipiac’s NCAA Tournament loss

    By Ethan Hurwitz and Mike King

    Down the home stretch of the regular season, the Quinnipiac men’s hockey team leaned on sophomore Matej Marinov in net. Both his 1.75 goals against average and .928 save percentage led ECAC Hockey. The Slovakia native was also between the pipes for seven of the Bobcats’ last 12 games, including four in a row.

    So why did head coach Rand Pecknold turn to freshman Dylan Silverstein for last Friday’s NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal against UConn?

    “(I) just feel like we’ve got two guys, I made a decision,” Pecknold said following the Bobcats’ 4-1 loss to the Huskies. “He played awesome the last time we played UConn, played great. … Either one could have gone today.”

    In his NCAA postseason debut, Silverstein held his own for most of the night. Though not suiting up in a month, the freshman gave a respectable performance, making 18 saves on 21 opportunities.

    The Bobcats struggled to put together a string of chances, and despite standing tall for most of the night, the freshman goaltender was forced to fend for himself.

    “They were just all over us,” Pecknold said. “We just didn’t have enough there. I wanted to get us going, so that’s disappointing.”

    Pecknold’s decision to start Silverstein was influenced by the goaltender’s last outing against the Huskies. In the Connecticut Ice semifinal on Jan. 24, Quinnipiac fell 2-1 after surrendering a game-winning goal with half a second remaining. Despite the soul-snatching loss, Silverstein did his part exceptionally well, stopping 22 of 24 shots.

    “We made a mistake on the (penalty kill) late in the game and hung him out to dry,” Pecknold said.

    Throughout his first season of college hockey, Silverstein was a solid addition to the Bobcats’ goaltending rotation. The California native went 12-9-2 between the pipes and was fifth in the conference in goals against average (2.25). It was a strong enough season for Pecknold to roll the dice and start him in a do-or-die postseason atmosphere.

    Left on the bench was Marinov, who had been playing his way into earning the starting nod in the NCAA Tournament. A day before puck drop, Pecknold left the door open for either goalie to start.

    “Yeah, they’ve both been great,” Pecknold said during his media availability the day before. “So we feel comfortable playing either one of them. We feel that either one of them can win us a game.”

    Less than 24 hours later, Silverstein was the first Bobcat to take the ice. Marinov was the last.

    The Huskies — who were playing in their first-ever NCAA Tournament game — came out firing. They got goals from Hugh Larkin, Ethan Gardula and Tristan Fraser before an empty net goal slammed the door shut.

    “I told the team before the game, in order to be successful in this tournament, you can’t rely on luck,” UConn head coach Mike Cavanaugh said. “You have to bring your all.”

    UConn brought its all and then some, and Quinnipiac failed to advance past the tournament’s first round for the first time in four years. 

    “I never used the term rebuild, but a reload year,” Pecknold said. “We’ll be better next season. We will take a jump. … This was a reload year and (we) had a lot of success.”

    With both Silverstein and Marinov slated to return next season (barring an entry into the transfer portal), how this year ended will likely be a major discussion point in next season’s goaltending conversations.

  • Notes & Quotes: UConn freezes Quinnipiac’s championship hopes with statement win

    Notes & Quotes: UConn freezes Quinnipiac’s championship hopes with statement win

    By Connor Coar and Zachary Carter

    Quinnipiac’s net remained empty. The faceoff was set to be taken in UConn’s defensive end with just over two minutes to play in the third period. Off the draw, skipping up the boards and bouncing off the shoulder of Quinnipiac forward Mason Marcellus, the puck landed on the stick of UConn’s Joey Muldowney. The sophomore flung the puck the length of the ice, watching as it started left, popped up on its side before finally veering right and into the back of Quinnipiac’s unmanned net. 

    Ballgame. 

    The goal – UConn’s fourth of the game – cemented the Huskies’ win in the Allentown regional opening round, sending Quinnipiac home in unceremonious fashion. UConn dominated all game, unlike their previous matchup with Quinnipiac in the Connecticut Ice semifinal round, which was decided with less than a second to play in regulation. 

    UConn scored two early goals and took the match 4-1, never giving Quinnipiac a chance to climb back in. The Huskies will move on to the regional final against Penn State on Sunday, while the Bobcats will pack their bags and load the bus due northeast for Hamden, where Quinnipiac will regroup and plan for next year. Let’s open the notebook and see where Quinnipiac went wrong in contrast to what went right for UConn. 

    What went wrong: Quinnipiac

    Effort. It’s cliche, but Quinnipiac did not play a full 60 minutes. Head coach Rand Pecknold admitted his team was flat early, but fought to the end in an attempt to overcome a sluggish start. The Bobcats have advanced to the regional final every year since 2021 and were determined to do so again. UConn’s relentlessness got in the way of that streak. 

    Pecknold: “We just didn’t have enough. It took us too long to get us going. So that’s disappointing.”

    Luck. Quinnipiac never led throughout the course of the game, but it occasionally threatened a comeback — one that ultimately failed to arrive. The Bobcats’ best chance came in the third period. Though they trailed by two, the offense had started to click, as 11 of Quinnipiac’s 22 total shots came in the final frame. With the puck on the blue line, defenseman Elliot Groenewold fired a shot that beat UConn goaltender Callum Tung but rang the crossbar, deflecting downward and nearly crossing the goal line. UConn’s Viking Gustafsson Nyberg raced in to clear just in time, and Quinnipiac’s short-lived hope dried up. 

    Cavanaugh: “I told the team before the game, ‘In order to be successful in this tournament, you can’t rely on luck. You have to bring your A game.’ That being said, I’ve coached some real good teams in this tournament. And you need some luck sometimes, and that one hit the crossbar on it, you know, if it’s one inch lower it’s in. But it wasn’t. So I think we reset pretty quickly after that and played pretty well.” 

    Pecknold: “Tung made some big saves in the third when we were trying to make a push.”

    Redemption. Freshman goaltender Dylan Silverstein had played in the CT Ice semifinal game against the Huskies in late January and played well for 59:59.5, but bit just a little too hard on a Ryan Tattle move that would eventually send the Huskies to the championship game. In the regional final Friday, Silverstein kept them in the game, but did not look as confident as he did two months earlier.

    Throughout the game, Silverstein was shaky in spots. Silverstein would save UConn’s initial shot, but many times the shot would deflect back in front of him, causing chaos in front of the crease. Other times, he wouldn’t see the puck at all and wait for a reaction from the crowd or skaters on the ice for play to continue. Despite that, Silverstein also stepped up in plenty of moments to deserve the starting nod to keep the Bobcats in the game. 

    Pecknold: “He played great the last time that we played UConn. We should have won. We out-chanced them heavily. We made a mistake on the PK late and hung him out to dry. That was part of it. Either one could have gone tonight.”

    What went right: UConn

    Defense. Quinnipiac’s offense was no pushover. The Bobcats led the ECAC in total goals scored (135) and shots on goal (1,118) through 38 games. Head coach Mike Cavanaugh made it a top priority for his group to possess the puck and force Quinnipiac to skate into unproductive shifts. 

    Cavanaugh: “Something that we take a lot of pride in is defending in our own zone. What allowed us to play so well was we were playing in their zone for the majority of the shift. If it’s a 40-second shift and we’re in their zone for 20-25 seconds, it’s a lot harder for them to play offense. Our defense is a byproduct of how we were controlling the game offensively in their zone.” 

    Energy. UConn’s trek through the Hockey East tournament revealed that a fast start usually correlates to wins. The team’s semifinal win over Boston University was propelled by a fast start and high energy, though it trailed early. In its next game, Cavanaugh thought his team took too long to wake up, and the Huskies had no answers in the loss to Maine. 

    To give an idea of how each team started the game Friday night, Quinnipiac needed over eight minutes to register its first shot on goal. In that time, UConn put eight shots on  Silverstein and even got one past him to open the scoring. 

    Cavanaugh: “We got out to a good start, and I think that helped and we had a lot of energy and as (Hudson Schandor) said that the shift that we scored on, I think there was three or four finished checks, and we finally got a turnover and then (Hugh Larkin) made a nice shot. So yeah, every game we play, we want to get off to a good start. I thought we started well against BU, and we were down 1-0. So, sometimes the score isn’t indicative of the start.”

    Penalty Kill. The Huskies took three penalties in the game and gave Quinnipiac — the nation’s highest converters on the power play — too many opportunities to climb back into the game. The penalty kill staved off any threats from Quinnipiac’s man-advantage units, but sloppy play could have easily cost the Huskies if the Bobcats started to click. The highlight here is again UConn’s defense. Cavanaugh had high praise for his group’s ability to limit second-chance opportunities. 

    Cavanaugh: “We really didn’t give up a lot of second-chance opportunities. That’s always a focal point when we’re playing, that we don’t want to give up second and third chance opportunities… We’re playing great teams. They’re going to get chances. That’s why you have a goaltender, and what we don’t want to do is hang them out to dry on second and third opportunities.”

    Depth. Schandor ranks third on UConn in total points (40) and leads the team in assists (30). His involvement in the offense has been crucial to the team’s success all season long. Naturally, when he suffered a lower body injury on March 14, he was missed throughout the team’s run through the Hockey East tournament. He returned against Quinnipiac, and his mere presence on the ice was a tally in the Husky win column.

    Cavanaugh: It certainly makes us deeper. Hudson has 40 points, he plays 20 minutes a night. We’re a better team with Hudson in the lineup… We pretty much rolled four lines tonight.

  • NCAA Tournament tiers: Where does Quinnipiac men’s hockey stand as field of 16 narrows?

    NCAA Tournament tiers: Where does Quinnipiac men’s hockey stand as field of 16 narrows?


    By: Cameron Levasseur and Ethan Hurwitz

    The NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament kicked off Thursday with regional semifinal games in Toledo, Ohio, and Fargo, North Dakota. As the field of 16 narrows, QUSportsPage’s Cameron Levasseur and Ethan Hurwitz break down which teams have a realistic shot at hoisting a national championship trophy, which ones are facing an uphill battle and everyone else in between.

    TITLE FAVORITES:

    No. 1 Boston College Eagles | 26-7-2 | At-Large Bid (Hockey East)

    The country’s top team for most of the season, Boston College enters this tournament the overwhelming favorites, but there are a few question marks. Struggles on the power play plagued BC all year and an upset loss to Northeastern in the Hockey East quarterfinals sent the Eagles to Manchester on a losing streak.

    And yet, sophomore, all-conference trio of goaltender Jacob Fowler, forward Ryan Leonard (the nation’s leader with 29 goals) and forward Gabe Perreault should lead the Eagles to their 27th Frozen Four in program history with ease.

    No. 4 Western Michigan Broncos | 30-7-1 | Automatic Qualifier (NCHC Champions)

    Western Michigan has been the country’s winningest team all season. Its 31 wins tops any other program in this tournament, and it became just the second team in NCHC history to win the regular season and postseason titles in the same season. Now, a bigger trophy awaits, one that the Broncos (1-9-0 all time in NCAA Tournaments) have never hoisted. 

    After a double overtime win over Minnesota State on Thursday, the Broncos are one step closer to that goal, set to face UMass in the Fargo Regional Final on Saturday. 

    No. 3 Maine Black Bears | 24-7-6 | Automatic Qualifier (Hockey East Champions)

    What a season for Maine. After claiming their first Hockey East title since 2004, the Black Bears clawed their way to the third-overall seed in this tournament and a date with Penn State in the Allentown Regional. The favorites to advance to the Frozen Four, this is a dynamic unit that features eight 20-point scorers and a sophomore goaltender in Albin Boija that boasts a 1.76 GAA and the Hockey East Tournament’s MVP honor to boot.

    FROZEN FOUR CONTENDERS:

    Denver Pioneers | 29-11-1 | At-Large Bid (NCHC)

    Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The Pioneers are back in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight season, and 34th time in program history. Winners of two of the last three national titles, head coach David Carle’s group entered the 2025 edition as an underdog to Providence, a team not unfamiliar with this bracket.

    Denver didn’t clinch the NCHC crown, falling to Western Michigan in a double-overtime thriller last Saturday. Instead, as one of the 10 at-large teams, it will be steered by forwards Jack Devine (56) and Aidan Thompson (51), two of the seven players across Division I to eclipse the 50-point mark.

    Providence Friars | 21-10-5 | At-Large Bid (Hockey East)

    The Friars — who are undefeated on neutral ice this season — will have over two weeks of rest after faltering to UConn in the Hockey East quarterfinals. They’ve also been resting from a tournament berth for over half a decade (2019).

    In the Manchester Regional, the defending national champion Denver Pioneers are up next on the docket, just the 25th time these programs have ever matched up, and second in an NCAA Tournament. It sure helps that theFriars’ two hour drive to SNHU Arena is nothing compared to Denver’s near-cross country flight.

    COULD MAKE SOME NOISE

    Quinnipiac Bobcats | 24-11-2 | At-Large Bid (ECAC Hockey)

    Just two years removed from a national title, Quinnipiac grabbed an at-large bid after leaving another conference tournament empty handed. In their way is fellow Nutmeg State program UConn, the same Huskies squad that knocked off these Bobcats in January. 

    Sophomore Matej Marinov (12-3, 1.75 GAA) has been one of the ECAC’s top goaltenders, while senior forward Jack Ricketts (team-high 20 goals) and junior forward Jeremy Wilmer (team-high 39 points) lead the offensive attack. A lucky draw to the Allentown Regional plays into the Bobcats’ hands, but losses in regional finals have plagued head coach Rand Pecknold’s team from adding to the trophy case in years past.

    UConn Huskies | 22-11-4 | At-Large Bid (Hockey East)

    This is the season UConn has been waiting for since it joined Hockey East in 2014. A program-record 22 wins, 12 wins in conference, a trip to the NCAA Tournament and the chance to grow the school’s pedestal of dominance beyond basketball. 

    The Huskies didn’t just make their first tournament, they asserted their ability to compete. They’re the No. 6 overall seed, set to face in-state rival Quinnipiac — which they beat en route to a Connecticut Ice Championship — in Allentown on Friday. 

    Penn State Nittany Lions | 20-13-4 | At-Large Bid (Big Ten)

    Two years ago, Penn State came up one goal short of its first Frozen Four appearance in an overtime loss to Michigan in the Allentown Regional Final, a regional it hosted. This year, the Nittany Lions are back in Allentown, again the hosts, and perhaps a better team than they were in 2023. 

    After a slow start to the season, Penn State is 13-4-4 since the start of the new year, led by Hobey Baker finalist Aiden Fink’s 52 points. The Nittany Lions face No. 3 Maine Friday night. 

    Boston University Terriers | 21-13-2 | At-Large Bid (Hockey East)

    BU won the Beanpot in Boston’s TD Garden in February, but couldn’t replicate that success on the same ice in the Hockey East Tournament in March, exiting with a three-goal loss to eventual runner-up UConn. So an at-large bid to the big dance for a second-straight year, the Terriers are looking to overcome their defensive shortcomings with an electric offense and power their way to a third-consecutive Frozen Four. They did so Thursday, powering past Ohio State with a five-goal third period to set up a date with Cornell in the Toledo Regional Final. 

    The team is led by Quinn and Cole Hutson (47 and 41 points, respectively). The latter Hutson, a freshman defenseman, has taken up the mantle left by his brother Lane, now with the NHL’s Montreal Canadians. 

    Cornell Big Red | 18-10-6 | Automatic Qualifier (ECAC Hockey Champions)

    Few teams in the tournament are as hot as Cornell, which came back to reality in the ECAC Tournament after a disappointing regular season hampered by injuries that left it as the conference’s No. 6 seed. The Big Red knocked off No. 3 Colgate, No. 1 Quinnipiac and No. 2 Clarkson en route to a second-consecutive Whitelaw Cup and an automatic berth. 

    Cornell head coach Mike Schafer will retire at the end of this season. He has made just one Frozen Four (2003) in his 30-year career. The Big Red took a step closer to making his second on Thursday, knocking off No. 2-overall seed Michigan State with a goal in the final ten seconds of regulation. 

    UMass Minutemen | 20-13-5 | At-Large Bid (Hockey East)

    The final of six at-large bids out of the Hockey East, UMass enters its sixth NCAA Tournament as an underdog. The Minutemen are 1,500 miles from home in Fargo, North Dakota, and faced a heavy crowd disadvantage against Minnesota Thursday. 

    Regardless, UMass battled the Gophers to overtime, an Aydar Suniev winner powering the Minutemen into the regional final for the first time since 2021, when they won  the national championship. They’ll face the indomitable No. 4 Western Michigan on Saturday with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line. 

    NEEDS A MIRACLE

    Bentley Falcons | 23-14-2 | Automatic Qualifier (Atlantic Hockey America Champions)

    Bentley won a program-record 23 games this season en route to an Atlantic Hockey Championship and its first NCAA Tournament Appearance. The Falcons, led by former Quinnipiac forwards Ethan Leyh (41 points) and Nick Bochen (29 points), stormed their way through the AHA Tournament as the No. 3 seed. They swept No. 2 Sacred Heart on its home ice in the semifinals and erased a two-goal deficit to top Holy Cross in the championship game. 

    The odds are stacked against Bentley, the No. 16 seed who will face overall No. 1 seed Boston College Friday, but such an upset is not out of the realm of possibility. Three Atlantic Hockey teams (RIT in 2015, Air Force in 2018 and American International in 2019) knocked off the tournament’s top seed as its lowest-ranked entrant. 

  • Quinnipiac and the quest for the Frozen Four: Who will rise in the 2025 NCAA Tournament?

    Quinnipiac and the quest for the Frozen Four: Who will rise in the 2025 NCAA Tournament?

    By Tyler Platz and Mike King

    Quinnipiac’s journey to the Frozen Four in St. Louis begins today as regional play in Allentown kicks off the 2025 installment of the NCAA men’s ice hockey tournament. The 16-team bracket includes six conference tournament champions who earned automatic bids, while the remaining 10 teams received at-large selections.

    Despite falling in the conference semifinals to the eventual ECAC champion Cornell, Quinnipiac once again makes its way into the tournament as an at-large team, thanks to the PairWise rankings. Hours out from puck drop, everything is set: Which teams are poised to make a run? Which players can change the game with the puck on their stick? And what needs to happen for Quinnipiac to advance to the Frozen Four?

    Puck drop is set for 5 p.m. as Quinnipiac looks to make another NCAA run while UConn makes its tournament debut.

    Who’s got a shot?

    No. 1 Boston College: 26-7-2 (18-4-2)

    There are many worthy contenders for this year’s chance at winning it all. Receiving the No. 1 rank in the USA Today poll as well as the top seed in regional play, Boston College looks like the team to beat in this tournament. 

    The Eagles boast two of the top point scorers in the country, with sophomore forward Ryan Leonard notching 29 goals and 18 assists alongside sophomore forward Gabe Perreault, who put up 15 goals and 32 helpers. With a high pace of play and multiple NHL draft picks on the roster, expect ferocity out of the boys from Chestnut Hill as they look to capture their first national championship since 2012.

    No. 3 University of Maine: 24-7-6 (13-5-6)

    Another team with the makings to win it all in 2025 is UMaine. The Black Bears are riding some serious momentum coming into regional play after receiving an automatic bid due to their recent Hockey East conference championship win over UConn.

    Maine is led by senior forward and team leading point-getter Harrison Scott. The team will face off against Penn State for the first time in program history, looking to make a splash in the early stages of the Allentown regionals. With 10 wins over ranked teams this season, watch for the Black Bears to do damage early and often, as they’ve scored a whopping 16 goals in their last three games.

    No. 4 Western Michigan: 30-7-1 (19-4-1)

    To round out the podium of potential winners, the NCHC (National Collegiate Hockey Conference) presents its conference champion, Western Michigan. This season, the Broncos became the second team in conference history to win the regular season title as well as the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, marking a historic run for the program. On top of this, they led the NCAA in wins this year with 30 and tied the record of 19 victories against in-conference foes.

    The Broncos provide a scary, top-tier offense in this tournament, with sophomore forwards Alex Bump, Owen Michaels, and senior forward Matteo Constantini combining for 98 points on the team’s top forward trio. Keep an especially close eye on Bump in this tournament, as he’s recorded a point in 20 of his last 22 games and was named the NCHC Forward of the Year this past regular season. 

    – Mike King

    Key players to watch for

    Jacob Fowler | So. | G | Boston College

    The Eagles have the market cornered. Not only are they a threat to put up points – led by Walter Brown Award recipient Ryan Leonard – but they also have arguably the top netminder in the country holding down the back end in Jacob Fowler. 

    The 6-foot-2-inch goaltender has a 1.63 goals-against-average and seven shutouts heading into the tournament, both good enough for second in the nation. Not allowing goals will be huge for this Eagles team, which can lean on Fowler in close-scoring games. It’s difficult to beat a team that’s capable of outscoring you, it’s nearly impossible to beat a team that’s capable of both outscoring and shutting you out.

    Aiden Fink | So. | F | Penn State

    Penn State has been one of the more consistent teams over the past two months, sporting a 10-3-2 record in its last 15 games. Just as consistent has been Aiden Fink; he’s the classic chess piece— the perfect fit.

    He finished second in the country in points per game at 1.41, amassing 52 points in 37 games played. If the Nittany Lions want to advance into the later rounds, they’ll need that consistency from Fink to carry over from the regular season and conference playoffs into the NCAA tournament.

    Zeev Buium | So. | D | Denver

    Most of the chatter around the defending champion Pioneers is about senior forward Jack Devine, who led the country in assists. However, Denver’s key player might be Zeev Buium, a two-way defenseman who can make an impact on the goal line and the blue line. The 12th overall pick from the 2024 NHL draft finished second in points among all defensemen with 43, making him a constant threat in transition.

    The winner of the tournament will be decided by which team can produce the most when it matters. Buium’s 200-foot game forces opponents to account for him at all times and could be integral to Denver hoisting its third trophy in the last four years.

    – Tyler Platz

    How did Quinnipiac get here?

    The Bobcats have come a long way since the start of the season. In its first nine games of the winter, Quinnipiac suffered through a 3-6 stretch that left fans and other programs wondering what was going wrong for the 2023 national title holders. 

    Since that stretch, the team found its groove and went on to finish the season on a scorching hot run, going 21-5-2 in that span.

    However, Quinnipiac didn’t just rely on scoring goals and dishing sweet assists to make it to this point. Its goalie tandem of sophomore goalkeepers Dylan Silverstein and Matej Marinov has played a crucial role in getting the Bobcats back to national championship contention.

    “Both are extremely talented with great work ethic,” head coach Rand Pecknold said. “We feel that either one of them can win us a game.”

    The duo ranked among the top five in the ECAC in individual goals against average, with Silverstein ranking fifth (2.22) while Marinov led the conference with 1.75. Marinov also led the conference in save percentage, finishing at a .928 rate.

    – Mike King

    How Quinnipiac can avoid another early exit

    The Bobcats’ path to the Frozen Four begins with a rematch against UConn, the team that beat them 2-1 in a close CT Ice semifinals meeting in January. If Quinnipiac wants a different result, it needs to prevent UConn from keeping the game close. The Bobcats need to capitalize on any offensive opportunities to put points on the board, something they couldn’t seem to do in their last matchup with UConn.

    “We did play in chaos,” Pecknold said. “We had chances. Our offense were, phenomenal. We just didn’t score.”

    UConn kept the game tight thanks to its physical style of play, a style the Bobcats showed they could match. The Huskies stayed within reach until the final second when junior forward Ryan Tattle scored the game-winning goal. To advance, Quinnipiac will need to learn from its previous mistakes and, more importantly, execute when it counts.

    – Tyler Platz

  • Revisiting Quinnipiac men’s hockey’s season series vs. Cornell ahead of the ECAC semifinals

    Revisiting Quinnipiac men’s hockey’s season series vs. Cornell ahead of the ECAC semifinals

    By Zachary Carter and Cameron Levasseur

    Quinnipiac and Cornell met three times in three different venues throughout the 2024-25 regular season, with the Bobcats holding a 1-0-2  advantage following a win in Ithaca and ties at Madison Square Garden and in Hamden.

    Ahead of their fourth and final matchup in the ECAC Semifinals in Lake Placid, New York, on Friday at 4 p.m., QU Sports Page’s Zachary Carter and Cameron Levasseur analyzed each meeting, taking moments from the past that inform the upcoming battle between the conference’s reigning tournament champion and its perennial regular season champ. 

    What’s to glean? Let’s evaluate.

    Nov. 22 at Cornell: Quinnipiac 3, Cornell 1

    Quinnipiac’s sole triumph over Cornell came in arguably the hardest environment to do so. The Bobcats went into Lynah Rink — a place they hadn’t won a game since 2018 — and handed the then-ranked No. 7/8 Big Red their second loss of the young season. Aaron Bohlinger opened the scoring in the first and Chris Pelosi secured the game-winning goal in the third. Mason Marcellus iced the win with an empty-net goal with 1.3 seconds remaining, while Dylan Silverstein stopped 15 of 16 shots on net. 

    Limiting opposing chances and maintaining puck possession were the Bobcats’ keys. Quinnipiac outshot Cornell 23-16, playing its best defense by sustaining offense. Though Quinnipiac is one of the worst shot-blocking teams in the ECAC (ranked second-to-last ahead of Cornell) the team put bodies in the way of 14 shots to lighten Silverstein’s workload. 

    The Bobcats cashed in once on the power play on two chances and have continued to be the league’s best through the end of the regular season — ranked first in power play conversion rate at 32.4%. 

    Looking ahead to this weekend, the path to a win remains the same. Though, the Bobcats will take the ice against a reformed Cornell team, one that looks much like the first-place finisher the ECAC coaches predicted it would be in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Big Red have 36 goals over their last nine games for an average of four per match. If Quinnipiac can replicate the defensive success they displayed in Ithaca and keep Cornell out of its offensive rhythm, they can find a win in March much like they did in November. 

    Nov. 30 at Madison Square Garden: Quinnipiac 3, Cornell 3 (Cornell wins SO)

    Barely a week after their meeting in Ithaca, the Bobcats and Big Red squared off at MSG in a seesawing affair that ended in a 3-3 tie. 

    Their trip to The World’s Most Famous Arena was a part of The Frozen Apple, one of two series of alternating bi-annual games hosted by Cornell to capitalize on its large alumni base around New York City. That materialized in the form of 16,593 fans and the closest thing to a playoff atmosphere a team can get in November. 

    Quinnipiac learned its share of lessons that night, facing the deafening roar of the near-sold out crowd after a series of unforced errors put the Bobcats in a 2-0 hole in the first period. 

    But they battled back in the second, finding and riding momentum to take a 3-2 lead in what head coach Rand Pecknold called “probably our best period of the year,” at the time. 

    In its semifinal exits in 2023 and 2024, Quinnipiac scored one total goal. It struggled to build momentum and capitalize on it. The Bobcats’ surge at MSG proved they can do so, especially against a Cornell defense that is allowing more than two goals per game for the first time in three seasons. 

    Herb Brooks Arena is no Madison Square Garden; its capacity is 7,700 and if history is any indication, Friday’s attendance will be around 4,000. But as history also suggests, much of that crowd will be a sea of red. 

    Quinnipiac proved it can counter that on a bigger stage in November. Now it has a second chance to do so with more than bragging rights on the line. 

    Jan. 18 at Quinnipiac: Quinnipiac 2, Cornell 2 (Cornell wins SO)

    It would be two months before the two rivals met for the final time, and in the roughly six-week period, each team’s season ventured down different paths. Following the tie in downtown Manhattan, Quinnipiac’s record was 6-6-1. It resembled one of a middling team, but in the nine games following the Frozen Apple, the Bobcats went 8-1. Between Nov. 30 and Jan. 18, Cornell went just 3-3-1. 

    Quinnipiac’s young roster at last bought into the Pecknold system, something the head coach said had taken a bit longer than it had in previous years. When it clicked, and the Bobcats found their groove, they would meet Cornell at the height of their hottest stretch of the season. 

    And yet for the 60 minutes that followed, Cornell stayed poised and cooled Quinnipiac down on its home ice. The Big Red struck first, knocking in a power-play goal late in the first period. Though Quinnipiac would score twice in the second to take the lead, Cornell remained undeterred, tying the game halfway through the third period. After an unsuccessful overtime ended the game in a tie, Cornell had the upper hand on Quinnipiac in shots (25-24) and faceoff wins (32-31). 

    The Bobcats took a penalty in each of the three periods, one of which led to the first Big Red goal. Cornell took just one all game. Quinnipiac beat itself, something it can’t afford do come Friday. An inability to match tempo from the two teams’ initial meeting while giving up too many man-advantage opportunities could lead to more than just a shootout loss. It could mark the end of Quinnipiac’s Whitelaw hopes. 

    Of note, Silverstein was in net for all three games against Cornell this season. If Pecknold is to stick with Matej Marinov, who has played and excelled in each of Quinnipiac’s last three games, it will be an entirely new look in net for the Big Red. 

    Marinov has allowed just one goal in his last three games, stopping 84 of his last 85 shots against. Against Brown in Quinnipiac’s most recent game March 15, he made 34 saves, the most in a Bobcat shutout since November 2015. 

  • How did we get here? Tracing Quinnipiac men’s hockey’s path to a fifth-consecutive regular season title

    How did we get here? Tracing Quinnipiac men’s hockey’s path to a fifth-consecutive regular season title

    By Cameron Levasseur, Brandon Murdock

    From the outset of the 2024-25 season, it was clear that this year would be much different for Quinnipiac men’s hockey. 

    For one, the Bobcats lost much of their depth from a national championship run that is now two years in the rearview. Hobey Baker Award Finalist Collin Graf turned pro in the offseason, as did Frozen Four hero Jacob Quillan, sophomore star Sam Lipkin, and the remaining four defenseman who made up the team’s core in the spring of 2023. Just one remaining player,  junior forward Victor Czerneckianair, had dressed in the title game. 

    For another, nearly 40% of their roster was freshmen, and another 22% was sophomores, a makeup unfamiliar to head coach Rand Pecknold in recent years. 

    So, despite its four-consecutive Cleary Cups as ECAC Hockey regular season champions, it was no surprise Quinnipiac found itself looking up in the preseason coaches’ poll to a veteran Cornell squad. 

    But six months later, the Bobcats are again entering the conference tournament as the top seed. How did they get here? The answer lies both within themselves and with others. 

    A slow start

    Quinnipiac’s non-conference slate was not kind to the Bobcats, despite their strength of schedule of barely cracking the top 50% in the nation. 

    A season-opening win against Penn State was the highlight — and then things went south from there. 

    Quinnipiac was swept by Maine on the road, then split the other side of the Border Battle against New Hampshire with a puzzling 3-2 loss on home ice after trouncing the Wildcats 8-2 the night before. 

    A shutout of Holy Cross put the Bobcats back on track, only to be swept by Dartmouth and Harvard to open conference play. 

    “It’s a great group of guys,” head coach Rand Pecknold said following the Dartmouth loss, the Big Green’s first in Hamden since 2018. “We will buy in at some point.”

    A midseason surge

    After that sweep, the Bobcats stepped on the gas into the new year, putting together a 7-1-1 stretch and averaged 3.75 goals per game, nearly a goal per game more than they produced through the first month of the season. 

    Sophomore Mason Marcellus — a preseason All-League honoree — turned it on during this period, putting together a nine-game point streak that carried into January. 

    Quinnipiac was not blowing teams out; it had just one win in that stretch with a margin of victory above three, but the Bobcats were winning games they were supposed to win. Then the wheels fell off again. 

    A 5-1 loss to Northeastern on Jan. 4 goes down as the team’s worst of the regular season. It outshot the Huskies 36-32, but Quinnipiac struggled to generate quality chances, gave up the puck incessantly, and failed to protect the net front. It did not score until the final two minutes of the contest.  

    “We just struggled,” Pecknold said after the game. “[Northeastern] found a way to be really good on the road, and kind of sucked us in a little bit.”

    But the Bobcats put things back together for the next two months, going 12-3-1 from early January to March, a record only blemished by a last-second loss to UConn in the Connecticut Ice Tournament and consecutive overtime losses to Clarkson — the ECAC’s No. 2 seed — before ultimately winning the Cleary Cup on the final day of the regular season. 

    Newcomers such as forwards Jeremy Wilmer and Jack Ricketts have found their rhythms. Wilmer has recorded at least a point, three goals, and nine assists in the last six games, while Ricketts is tied for the most goals in the country since December with 15 in his last 18 games. 

    “You always expect an adjustment period coming to a new place,” Ricketts said. “For some, it’s a little longer, and that’s the way it goes. I think just sort of the mentality in the second half [has been] to just keep pushing and focus on the little things.” 

    A bit of help

    Even with a strong end to the regular season. Quinnipiac’s ECAC-winning 50-point total was the lowest it’s recorded in its five-year reign of dominance over the conference. In order to claim the regular season title again, the Bobcats needed a bit of help from Cornell, their most bitter on-ice rival. 

    On paper, the Big Red were poised for an explosive season, losing just one player from a team that came up one goal short of the Frozen Four the previous spring. 

    In reality, injuries hit Cornell hard, losing 32 man games through the first eight games of the season and digging itself into a rut it struggled to overcome. The Big Red never won more than two consecutive games the entire season and likewise entered the ECAC Tournament the No. 6 seed, a far cry from their preseason billing.

    Familiar places, new faces

    It’s no secret that Quinnipiac’s regular season success has not translated to the conference tournament. No team has more regular season titles (nine), yet the Bobcats have just one Whitelaw Cup as ECAC Tournament champions to their name. 

    Lake Placid, the host site of the conference championship weekend, has been a particular house of horrors for Quinnipiac in recent years, seeing a title game loss to No. 3 Harvard in 2022 as well as semi-finals losses to  No. 7 St. Lawrence in 2024 and No. 5 Colgate in 2023.

    But this season, the team sits perilously on the Pairwise bubble entering the ECAC Tournament. Their No. 13 position will be the final at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. An early exit could boot Quinnipiac down the ranking and cost it a fifth-consecutive bid to the big dance. 

    “We’re fighting for our lives for the NCAA Tournament,” Pecknold said after a win over Brown on Feb. 22. 

    So winning their first Whitelaw Cup since 2016 is more of a priority than ever for the Bobcats, who view their situation through the lens of win-and-you ’re-in. And while they’re acutely aware of the team’s struggles at Herb Brooks Arena, Czerneckianair is the only rostered player to have played more than one game there. 

    In other words, it’s familiar territory with new faces. Maybe that’s just what Quinnipiac needs. 

    “We’re an entirely new team,” senior goaltender Noah Altman said. “We know we’re going to have a home weekend after the bye week to recoup ourselves.”

    The Bobcats begin their conference tournament run with a best-of-three series against Brown in Hamden. Game One is set for Friday at 7 p.m. 

  • Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey stumbles in ECAC playoffs – what went wrong?

    By Kaitlyn Grady, Tyler Platz and Mike King

    For the second season in a row, the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team failed to reach the NCAA Tournament, with its ECAC Tournament run ending in the three-game quarterfinal series against Clarkson. 

    Despite strong defensive play, the Bobcats’ offense struggled to keep up with opponents throughout the season, culminating in another disappointing playoff performance. With key contributors departing this offseason, questions loom as this team looks ahead to the 2025-26 season.

    Putting points on the board

    A major issue for the 2024-25 Bobcats was their scoring, or lack thereof. In games where opponents scored at least two goals, not once were the Bobcats able to come out on top. That stat would be less pressing if they were getting blown out, but failing to score more than two goals consistently is a problem. 

    There’s nothing wrong with playing a defensive game, but when a team can’t match its opponent’s scoring output, that spells trouble. That trouble caught up with them and is one of the main reasons the Bobcats are watching the NCAA Tournament from home.

    Last season, after an Oct. 20 1-0 victory over Brown, Turner recognized the lack of production early in the season and highlighted the need to “score early.”

    “They want to get the first goal of the game, that is huge for them and it’s something that they talk about,” Turner said. “The more you think about scoring, the less you’re going to score. It’s about pulling the pieces together that are going to help us create scoring chances and building from one to the next.”

    This message seemed to resonate with the team last year, but not so much this time around.

    Heavy reliance on the defensive side of the game

    The Bobcats’ strength was its defense. They relied on winning low scoring games and had trouble against some of the top scoring teams. The Bobcats ranked 14th in the nation in goals scored on the season with 97, and ranked eighth in the ECAC. This is a stark contrast from last season, where the Bobcats finished sixth in the nation with 134 goals scored, almost 40 goals more than they were able to put in the back of the net this season. This is also the fewest goals they have scored in a season since the 2018 season, where they scored 73. However, Colgate, Cornell, Princeton and Clarkson all ranked ahead of the Bobcats in goals scored this season. The Bobcats’ combined record against these teams was 2-7-1. 

    The Bobcats struggled to beat teams that score more efficiently than they do, always having to rely on their defense to win. One area where the Bobcats excelled this season was on the penalty kill. The Bobcats ranked fourth in the country in penalty kill percentage. However, they only ranked 27th on power play percentage this season.

    Playoff woes continue under Cassandra Turner

    Once again Quinnipiac fell short of winning the ECAC tournament. For the second straight season, Quinnipiac women’s hockey had their season come to an end in the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament. The Bobcats’ loss to Clarkson in the quarterfinals ended their season. They likely needed to win the ECAC tournament to get in or have a close loss in the finals to qualify because of how they struggled against top teams this season.

    With their season coming to an end, a hard internal look at the program must take place to understand how the Bobcats can improve from here. Head coach Cassanda Turner has been behind the bench for 10 seasons. In those 10 seasons, Turner has led the Bobcats to multiple NCAA tournament appearances, but has also been at the helm during many seasons where the Bobcats could not win big games. The Bobcats have yet to reach the Frozen Four under Turner, and as they look ahead to next season, timely wins will certainly be an emphasis again for Turner and the Bobcats. 

    What’s next?

    With four of Quinnipiac’s top five point-getters set to graduate (Maya Labad – 27 points, Kendall Cooper – 26, Maddy Samoskevich – 22 and Jenna Donohue – 19),  Quinnipiac will look to fill those spots around sophomore forward Kahlen Lamarche, who led the team with 14 goals and 19 assists this season. 

    A potential suitor to take on a bigger role in the points department is freshman forward Bryn Prier. She finished this season with eight goals and eight assists as well as a +16 plus-minus. In a Feb. 14 game against RPI, Prier had a hat trick and an assist on a Lamarche goal, culminating in a four point night. If Prier and Lamarche develop strong chemistry, it might suit the Bobcats well to pair them on a line moving forward into next season.

    Alongside her, expect first-year defenseman Makayla Watson to contribute more to the offense next season. She finished the campaign tied for third on the team in assists with 12. With Watson, who suited up in all 38 games this season, able to grow into a bigger role for next winter, expect her to increase her numbers as she’s able to freely dish the puck to her teammates.

    Besides point production, the other area of this team with underclassmen waiting in the wings is goaltending. With graduate Kaley Doyle’s departure, freshman Felicia Frank will likely get the nod in net next season. In limited appearances between the pipes in 2024-25, Frank showed that she can hold the back end down in the form of four shutouts. 

    If it isn’t Frank, Quinnipiac will have to look to find a more polished and experienced netminder in the transfer portal. In recent history, the Bobcats have favored an older goaltender to lead the team, with Doyle and former Quinnipiac goalies Logan Angers and Corrine Schroeder being examples of this. 

    The defensive side of Quinnipiac’s team is overshadowed by the lack of offense, but both will have to improve in the 2025-26 season if the Bobcats hope to compete with more balanced teams in the regular season. 

    Since the 2021-22 season, it has consistently finished in the top five of the conference – including fourth in 2022, third in 2023 and fifth in 2024 and 2025 – but have yet to translate that success into a deep postseason run. Overcoming that will be a determining factor in the Bobcats pushing themselves over the top in search of an ECAC championship.

    “We’re going to continue to dive in and stay in the fight and be in a position where you look to figure our best hockey at the end of the season,” Turner said.

  • 15 players to watch in men’s ECAC Hockey Tournament

    15 players to watch in men’s ECAC Hockey Tournament

    By Cameron Levasseur and Jake Baskin

    The ECAC Hockey men’s tournament kicked off Friday, with the bottom eight seeds gearing up for the single-elimination opening round. No. 1 Quinnipiac — Cleary Cup champions for the fifth-straight season — earned a bye into the quarterfinals, as did No. 2 Clarkson, No. 3 Colgate and No. 4 Union. 

    With their seasons on the line, No. 8 Brown hosts No. 9 Princeton and No. 7 Harvard faces No. 10 RPI, while No. 5 Dartmouth battles No. 12 St. Lawrence and No. 6 Cornell meets No. 11 Yale.

    As the fray begins, here are 15 players to watch in this year’s tournament: 

    Ayrton Martino | Sr. | F | Clarkson

    After not reaching double-digit goals in his first three seasons with Clarkson, Martino has become one the nation’s most dangerous scorers seemingly overnight. His 23 goals leads the ECAC and is tied for second in the NCAA. Factor in his 45 points and Martino is a shoe-in to be the first Golden Knight to win ECAC Player of the Year since Todd White in 1997.  

    Ian Shane | Sr. | G | Cornell

    Shane makes this list not for his regular season performance, but for what he’s left on the table this season. The reigning ECAC Goaltender of the Year, Shane — along with the conference preseason favorite Big Red — has fallen off a cliff. His .923 save percentage in 2023-24 has dropped to .891, second-worst in the nation among netminders with over 20 starts. If Shane finds his form in the postseason, it’s the first step for No. 6 Cornell to shake off a rough regular season and look to repeat as ECAC champions in two weeks. 

    Ryan St. Louis | Jr. | F | Brown

    Brown enters the ECAC Tournament on a tear, winning eight of its last 10 games and steamrolling into the eight seed and home ice advantage in the opening round. The Bears’ most dynamic player through this stretch? St. Louis, who has 15 points since Jan. 17. His 1.25 points per game sits second in the conference, despite missing nine games with two separate injuries. 

    Cooper Moore | Sr. | D | Quinnipiac

    In his second year with the Bobcats after transferring from North Dakota, Moore has joined a lineage of shutdown No. 1 defenseman at Quinnipiac. Like Jayden Lee before him and Zach Metsa before that, Moore is the focal point of a Bobcats’ defense that is again among the best in the nation. He’s not a dynamic offensive threat (12 points in 33 games), but Moore’s elite defensive instincts break up plays before they become dangerous and allow Quinnipiac to quickly turn plays back up ice. With graduate student Aaron Bohlinger out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, more responsibility now falls on the veteran Moore to lock down the top lines of opposing teams. 

    Trey Taylor and Tristan Sarsland | Jrs. | D | Clarkson

    Much like the Clarkson women’s top defensive pairing of Nicole Gosling and Haley Winn, the Golden Knights’ men’s duo of Taylor and Sarsland should be spoken of in the same breath. They have 25 and 21 points on the season, respectively, and are a nightmare for offenses to beat in the defensive zone. Taylor, the reigning ECAC Defensive Defenseman of the Year, is making a strong case to repeat in 2025, and Sarsland’s +11 plus/minus is sixth among defensemen in the conference. 

    CJ Foley | So. | D | Dartmouth

    An All-ECAC Second Teamer as a freshman, Foley has taken the next step in his second season with Dartmouth. His 11 goals and 29 points lead the Big Green and sit top five among defensemen in the country, driving an offense that spent half the season without its top forward, Luke Haymes. 

    Brendan Gorman | Jr. | F | Princeton

    In his third season with the Tigers, Gorman pushes the pace as Princeton’s top-line center. He leads the Tigers in goals (12) and points (26) this season. His relentless motor helps regulate the play of a hot and cold program who’s conference tournament run could be anywhere from one day to three weeks long. 

    Jeremy Wilmer | Jr. | F | Quinnipiac

    A high-scoring winger in his two years at Boston University, Wilmer has kept his scoring pace up in his first year at Quinnipiac. The Bobcats have five players in the top 10 in scoring, and Wilmer’s 38 points are second only to Martino for the conference lead. Quinnipiac is the highest-scoring team in the conference this season, and the 5-foot-8 spark plug has proven to be the leader of the committee.

    Luke Haymes | Jr. | F | Dartmouth

    Two years ago, Dartmouth was at the bottom of the conference standings. Now, the Big Green are an ECAC contender and Haymes is a major reason why. The team’s leading scorer in 2023-24, he missed the first part of this season with a broken hand but has played very well since returning, molding his game into that of a physical two-way center. He is expected to be pursued by many NHL teams at the conclusion of Dartmouth’s season.

    Brett Chorske | Sr. | F | Colgate

    Chorske has had his breakout season as a senior, and is currently top five in the conference in both goals (15) and points (33). The center from Minnesota is an excellent puck handler and passer, and has been driving the offense for the Raiders in 2024-25. Listed at 6-foot-7, 215 pounds, he provides a size component that few in the country can rival. If Colgate is to win the ECAC, Chorske is going to have to be the best player in the conference tournament.

    John Prokop | Jr. | D | Union

    Union finished fourth in the regular season standings under third-year coach Josh Hauge, and the team’s leader on the back end is Prokop, a second-team All-American from a year ago. Prokop is second among ECAC defenseman in scoring to Dartmouth’s Foley and his offensive output over his three years in Schenectady means opposing coaches have to gameplan for him. He has also taken major steps on his own end, in particular taking an expanded role on the penalty kill, that has allowed the talented Union forwards to take chances offensively.

    Jack Ricketts | Sr. | F | Quinnipiac

    Just two ECAC forwards have hit the 20-goal threshold in the regular season. One is Clarkson’s Martino. The other is Ricketts, a graduate transfer and former captain at Holy Cross. The left-winger from Oakville, Ontario, really picked up his scoring in the past month, with nine of his 20 goals coming on or after Jan. 31. While the Bobcats get most of their recognition for their strong defense in recent years, their balanced scoring output has also been key to their fifth-consecutive Cleary Cup title. No one has been hotter down the stretch for them than Ricketts.

    Mick Thompson | Fr. | F | Harvard

    Thompson is Harvard’s scoring leader., A freshman, he was recently named the Hockey Commissioners Association’s National Rookie of the Month. The 21-year-old had four of his 10 goals and 12 of his 26 total points in February. The Crimson struggled in 2023-24 after most of their stars of the 2022-23 team turned pro and have remained middle of the pack this year. While the team is still in a rebuilding period, Thompson is a piece that Harvard can build around for the future.

    Jakob Lee | Grad. | F | RPI

    2024-25 was another rocky regular season for No. 10 RPI, which faces a steep climb to reach postseason success. If they hope to replicate the first round upset they pulled off last March, the Engineers will need the offensive production of Lee, who’s 12 goals leads the team. RPI has won six games since the start of the new year and Lee scored in five of them, including both o

    f the team’s goals in a 2-1 win over Dartmouth on Feb. 21. 

    Lawton Zacher | So. | G | Brown 

    Zacher, a second-year starter from Buffalo, New York, is second among qualified conference goaltenders with a .920 save percentage, second to just Quinnipiac’s Matej Marinov’s .922. Handling the bulk of starts for the Bears this season, he was the conference’s only representative among the 10 semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award for Division I’s top goaltender. Postseason hockey, particularly in defensive-oriented conferences such as the ECAC, magnifies the importance of good goaltending. If Zacher gets hot, Brown could put a scare into the top teams in the conference.

  • Stock up, stock down: A look at six men’s hockey players before ECAC postseason begins

    Stock up, stock down: A look at six men’s hockey players before ECAC postseason begins

    By: Toni Wetmore, Brandon Murdock

    With the men’s ECAC postseason tournament beginning Friday, top-seeded Quinnipiac has a first-round bye as it looks for its first Whitelaw Cup since 2016. 

    It’s been an up and down season for the Bobcats, and likewise for their players. So as the postseason begins, we’re taking a look at which players’ stocks have gone up and which have gone down since the start of the new year before they hit the ice for the quarterfinals March 14.

    Stock up:

    Jeremy Wilmer – Junior Forward

    13 goals – 25 assists – 38 points 

    Wilmer has recorded at least one point in each his last six games, with three goals and nine assists for 12 points total.

    “He’s a high-end player for sure,” said head coach Rand Pecknold earlier this season. “He’s got great offensive instincts.”

    His recent surge has pushed him to the top of the team leaderboard in points, surpassing Travis Treloar and Mason Marcellus, who had led all season. Wilmer also jumped to second in the ECAC in total points this season with 38.

    Jack Ricketts – Senior Forward

    20 goals – 6 assists – 26 points 

    Next is Ricketts, a senior transfer from Holy Cross. Ricketts was a bit snakebitten in the scoring department at the beginning of his Bobcat career, only scoring two goals in the first month of the season. However, he is tied for the most goals in the country since December with 15 in his last 18 games played.

    “Just buying into the system, playing hard and fast, something we preach is always keeping your feet moving,” said Ricketts after the Oct. 25 game against New Hampshire.

    He was shutout in the last game of the regular season, but entering the finale, had a streak of five-straight games with a goal. The surge brought him to second in the ECAC in goals, goals per game and plus/minus. 

    Travis Treloar – Graduate student Forward 

    16 goals – 18 assists – 34 points 

    Treloar, a graduate student, has made an impact for the Bobcats from the jump and never wavered. Treloar is first in power play goals in the ECAC and fourth in the conference in goals. He’s been on a six-game point streak since  Feb. 8 against Clarkson. Quinnipiac will need to lean on Treloar’s leadership as it moves into the playoffs. 

    Stock down: 

    Dylan Silverstein – Freshman Goaltender

    12-8-2 record – 2.22 GAA

    Silverstein was more than solid to begin his collegiate career. With big games against UMaine, holding a high-powered Black Bear offense to just two goals with 27 saves, then the following week against New Hampshire, in which he totaled 58 saves on the weekend. He won the starting job over sophomore Matej Marinov, but over the last month, has struggled keeping the puck out of the net, allowing three goals or more three times in the last 11 games. 

    Silverstein has also scuffled in the big games this year, specifically against Cornell and the two games against No. 2 Clarkson. The freshman gave up five goals over the course of the last two games played against Cornell and in the last game against Clarkson on the road, gave up four goals on just 12 shots. He played well Feb. 22 against Brown, recording a shutout, but leading up to that game, had not given up less than two goals in a game since Jan. 17, coming in relief in a 6-3 win over Colgate. 

    Chris Pelosi – Freshman Forward

    11 goals – 11 assists – 22 points

    The forward found a groove in early February, scoring a goal in four-straight games. Now, Pelosi has been in a scoring drought since Feb. 15.  While he has been a playmaker in that span, recording three assists, he has been unable to score. He’ll have to find a way to get the puck in the net if the Bobcats approach do-or-die territory in the playoffs. Pelosi faces high expectations, as he was a third-round draft pick by the Boston Bruins this summer.

    Elliot Groenewold – Freshman Defenseman

    4 goals – 5 assists – 9 points

    The first-year defenseman was a ‘24 fourth-round pick of the Boston Bruins and came in with big expectations as the blue line had been depleted from the previous season. Quinnipiac lost players such as Jayden Lee, Iivari Räsänen and Charles-Alexis Legault either to graduation or the NHL ahead of the season . 

    Groenewold has been very disciplined over the course of the year, especially for a young player, only taking seven penalties on the season. However, since his defensive partner Aaron Bohlinger went down on Feb. 21 with a season-ending knee injury, Groenewold has struggled. Giving the puck away and being out of position at times has either cost the Bobcats goals or nearly have. In the last weekend of the season against  Clarkson, and with a chance to clinch the Cleary Cup, he was a -2 in the game. Also, he has not had as much of an impact on the offensive side of the ice over the past month, only recording three points since Jan. 10.