QUINNIPIAC
COACH PECKNOLD: We're excited. It's a proud moment for Quinnipiac University hockey program. Just really proud of my guys tonight. I don't think it was our best game of the year. I don't think we played perfect. But we battled and found a way to score goals and got that nice lead early.
We had some struggles defensively, but Hartzell was great again. I thought he was the best player on the ice tonight. I thought we did a nice job in front of him. We could have cleaned up a few things, but you saw why Eric Hartzell is in the Hobey Baker hat trick right now.
I'm proud of my guys. They compete hard, battle hard. It's been a great group of guys, it's been a great ride, and we have to get one more.
JORDAN SAMUELS THOMAS: Yeah, we had the overtime in the game before. Almost expected that there could be a little bit of a letdown. So I just want to come out there and get to my game, strong around the net and kind of set the pace to get myself in the game and get my teammates in the game too.
ZACH DAVIES: Yeah, I mean, that was a huge break for us. It sways the momentum back on our side from theirs after that kill, and scoring the goal just adds a little more momentum to the game. 3 0 in the first period is a pretty good lead, and gave us a lot to work with.
JORDAN SAMUELS THOMAS: For sure. I felt like I had some good jump in the beginning. A lot of guys won the battle, and Goody won the battle which allowed me to get the puck. I jammed it, and the second goal was the same. I got in there, and Arnt won a battle and allowed me to put the puck on net, and he cashed in on the goal. Guys were there and winning battles.
JEREMY LANGLOIS: I think we're going to just keep doing what we've been doing. I'm sure the coaching staff will do a good job of preparing us for Saturday. If we played the way we would like to that will definitely benefit us, and I know everyone will be excited. I think we just want to use those towards the game.
ZACH DAVIES: We've just got to focus on the game. We're going to be nervous. It's the largest crowd we've ever played in front of, and we've just got to use that excitement. It's a little extra in our step, and hopefully it helps us in the game.
JORDAN SAMUELS THOMAS: Yeah, it's a great opportunity. It's a blessing to have this opportunity, but in reality, it's the same game we've played since we were 6 or 7 years old. So we keep that in mind, and I think the nerves will go away.
JORDAN SAMUELS THOMAS: I mean, this is my first year in the rivalry, and it's awesome. It's something that the school really rallies around. It's usually our biggest game all year. They're a really good team. I think we play a really entertaining game when we play them because we're so close. So it's definitely really exciting to play them any time.
ZACH DAVIES: Well, you can see the stands tonight was fully yellow, which is awesome to see. The buzz on campus the last few weeks has been incredible. You walk around and everyone wants to talk to you. Everyone's saying congratulations. Teachers are talking about it in class. It's been really incredible in our school. It's huge after the past years where we didn't do as well and people have really rallied behind us this year.
JEREMY LANGLOIS: Yeah, I think it's great. Our fan base has been amazing on the run that we've been on this year. I know they're very excited for us to get to this point. We want to win them one more game.
JORDAN SAMUELS THOMAS: Yeah, just kind of repeating what they said. It's really exciting. It's something that kind of rallies the student body together. Obviously, it's exciting for us, but it was exciting for the teachers, the students, the administration, and everyone that is a part of Quinnipiac University. It is definitely exciting for the whole Quinnipiac family.
COACH PECKNOLD: I think we're very opportunistic. As I said, I'm very proud of my team. I actually thought it was great when the first game went to overtime. We had prepared for it. We had talked about it during the week. I thought we used it to our advantage. We talked as soon as the game went into overtime. I told the guys again. I probably told them four times this week, but we talked about it.
First thing I talked to them about in our pregame speech is this game could go into overtime. I guess it was 6:10, so I don't know where the game would have been at that point. But we need to prepare for that. We're a veteran team. We have great character, we handle adversity well, and we need to jump St. Cloud.
We don't know how they're going to handle it. I'm not saying that was the pivotal moment of the game, but I thought it was an advantage for us that we had been prepared for it. Certainly, any time you can jump out to a 1 or 2, 3 0 lead, it's a big advantage.
COACH PECKNOLD: There are two ways to look at it. We're 3 0 against Yale. Some people might say that's great for Quinnipiac, and I would say that's really tough to beat somebody four times in a row. I'm not going to waiver you away. The one thing I've seen from Yale, I watched both of their games, Minnesota and North Dakota and I saw the game tonight, and this is a different team than when we beat them in Atlantic City. They've got some new jam. They're competing hard. They're doing some things, and have some players that are on a different level than they were three or four weeks ago.
Really, that 3 0 win in Atlantic City for us, we had nothing to play for, literally nothing. We tried to motivate our guys, and we weren't very good. Hartzell stole the game for us. He was just an absolute stud. I think we went 3 0, and we got a couple goals that were a little iffy. We probably shouldn't have won that game.
I think you can throw the 3 0 out the window. It's going to be a battle. They've got some great players. We've got some great players, and we definitely play two different styles of game. We'll have to go to war on Saturday.
COACH PECKNOLD: Again, I keep talking about the character in that locker room. It is an awesome group of young men. Just A plus across the board, on the ice, off the ice, and we need to use that to our advantage. We've done it all year long, dealing with adversity.
We're resilient. We might not have the most talent in the country, but I think we are the best team, and now we need to go prove it. We'll be nervous on Saturday, but so will Yale. We've talked about this week with my team. It's okay to be nervous, but we need to do little things well, pay attention to details.
I think you see so many times in the Frozen Four players that forget assignments, miss face off coverage, and do things they don't do all year long because they get nervous on the big stage. We've just got to stay the course.
We have these lengthy TV timeouts, and it's really a different game than the regular season. These are two minutes, 2:15s, they're long. So you can re-coach your guys on the bench, and go through some things that you need to do. So I think for us, we'll be nervous. Yale will be nervous. You can't avoid it. We have to attack it head on, and that's what we've done all year with adversity.
COACH PECKNOLD: Yeah, he was dominant even outside of the goals and stuff. He was rolling. I think not only what we talk about a lot as a team is when you're going to have a big shift, not only is it important for that actual shift, but it gets our bench going. Our guys are really close, they're real tight.
He had a couple of shifts. You've got Peca and the twins on the bench. Now they're licking their chops because we want to go do that; and Langlois is ready to go. That's something we've done all year long where one line has a great shift, and it will energize the next couple of lines, and it's fun to watch. But I thought Jordan was a pivotal player in tonight's game.
Then just before we wrap up, because I know we're going to end this, but so you know, in the back of the room, we have our President, John Lahey who is here; and he's the architect of everything. And I have everything to thank for him for building me that nice arena and getting us rolling. And we have Jack McDonald, our athletic director in the room if you guys want to talk to them.
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