Men’s Hockey: No. 5 Terriers to Host Reigning National Champion No. 3 Quinnipiac in Top 5 Match-Up

Featured image: Jacob Ireland

By Miranda Lemus

The No. 5 Boston University Terriers (8-3-1, 5-1-1 HEA) are finally living up to their potential and will look to continue their strong run against the No. 3 Quinnipiac Bobcats (9-3-1, 5-0-1 ECAC) on Wednesday. 

“Another big test for us… clearly, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for us which is a good thing. I think it’s good for our team to have these challenges and I know our guys are looking forward to it,” said coach Jay Pandolfo.

This mid-week match-up will feature a multitude of highly touted underclassmen between both squads. BU brings the regular star power between freshman forward and NCAA point leader Macklin Celebrini and sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson. Also with no shortage of young powerhouse players, the Bobcats will look to sophomore forward Sam Lipkin and freshman forward Mason Marcellus to outshine and outplay the Terriers. 

Also in the lineup for the Bobcats, who have proved to be difficult opponents so far, are junior forwards Collin Graf and Jacob Quillan. Quillan, who is most notably known for scoring the overtime winner in the NCAA National Championship last year, has only gotten better since then. Quillan leads the Bobcats in points with 19 in 13 games. Graf, who has been in and out of the lineup due to injury, trails behind Quillan with 13 points in 8 games. Both are expected to play on Wednesday.

Noted Quinnipiac transfer who has started in net for a majority of the Bobcats’ schedule is senior goaltender Vinny Duplessis. After backing up Drew Commesso during his three seasons at BU, Duplessis transferred to Quinnipiac for his senior year. So far, Duplessis holds a record of 7-2-1 and a save percentage of .914. 

“Our guys I think have a lot of respect for Vinny and clearly he never got a full opportunity here, he [was] playing behind [Commesso] and he wanted to go somewhere to have an opportunity to play every night and he has the opportunity [now]. I think it’s fun for our guys to play against him, I think they’re all happy for Vinny. He’s a great teammate,” said Pandolfo. 

Junior goaltender Mathieu Caron falls right behind Duplessis with a save percentage of .902. Even though Caron may not statistically best Duplessis, Caron has saved many games for the Terriers this season and will be a huge asset against the reigning NCAA national champions.

The last time the Terriers and Bobcats met was in January 2019, a 4-3 win for Quinnipiac. BU leads the all-time series 3-1-0, but only time will tell who will be on top this time around. 

No. 5 Boston University Men’s Hockey will take the No. 3 Quinnipiac Bobcats at 5 p.m. Thanksgiving Eve. The top-5 matchup will be hosted at Agganis Arena an will be available to stream on ESPN+.