No. 1 ‘Cats, page 4SportS

QUChronicle.comMarch 20, 2013

Volume 82Issue 21

SHALL WE DANCE?

Junior forward Brittany McQuain averaged a double-double in the Northeast Conference tournament,

winning tournament MVp, to propel the Bobcats to their first trip to the NCAA tournament.

photo by Matt Eisenberg/Chronicle

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editor-in-chiefMichele Snow

senior MAnAging editorAnna Brundage

senior MAnAging editorSamantha Epstein

MAnAging editorMatt Eisenberg

neWs editorKatherine Rojas

AssociAte neWs editorDaniel Grosso

AssociAte neWs editorJulia Perkins

co-Arts & life editorCatherine Boudreau

co-Arts & life editorChristine Burroni

AssociAte Arts & life editorAnna Wagner

AssociAte Arts & life editorCaroline Tufts

sports editorJoe Addonizio

AssociAte sports editorKerry Healy

AssociAte sports editorBryan Lipiner

photogrAphY editorMadeline Hardy

copY desK chiefCassie Comeau

AssociAte copY editorRebecca Castagna

WeB developerMarcus Harun

design editorHannah Schindler

cArtoonistDakota Wiegand

AdviserLila Carney

Following a disappointing end to last sea-son when the Quinnipiac women’s basketball team fell to Monmouth at home, 69-66, in the semifinals of the Northeast Conference Tour-nament, head coach Tricia Fabbri got her first postgame text.

The text was from now sophomore guard Gillian Abshire and simply said, “coach we’re going to get it next year.”

Fabbri said, from that point on, that was the “sentiment” of the team and that it was “unwavering” to see what its goal was. Ab-shire’s text stood true.

Top-seeded Quinnipiac was crowned with its first NEC Tournament championship tro-phy Sunday evening with a 72-33 victory over No. 4 Saint Francis (Pa.). It now will go the big dance for the first time in the history of the men’s or women’s basketball program.

“Right now, it’s really surreal and we are just trying to let it all sink in but this is ev-erything we’ve talked about since we lost to Monmouth in that semifinal game last year,” junior forward Brittany McQuain said. “I think that finally accomplishing it is exactly what we wanted and I’m so proud of every-thing we’ve done.”

Fabbri also showed her excitement in the postgame conference.

“So thrilled for the program to win its first NEC championship,” Fabbri said. “So pleased for all 15 young ladies who came together and grew as a team. So excited for my staff who has been phenomenal all year long put-ting together a great roster for us to go out and compete with and just thrilled that John Lahey, Mark Thompson and Jack McDonald are the leaders of the university that allow us to go out and do what we have to, do what we want to, do what we need to do, to make this program a winner.”

As for the game, it was all Quinnipiac from the start. It began the game on a 11-3 run and the Red Flash’s only lead of the game was fol-lowing its opening possession when it nailed a 3-pointer to take a 3-2 lead. After that, the Red Flash went 8:02 without putting a point up, missing 11 straight shots from the floor and two free throws during that span.

Lisa Lebak, who entered the game averaging just 2.2 points per game, nailed two 3-pointers in the first half to set the pace for the Bobcats. She also added seven rebounds and two assists and didn’t turn the ball over once in the first 20 minutes.

“Lisa has been playing the best ball of her career for the last 10 games and she has been running the

team and then there’s always one 3 every game she hit that was always in a big spot and today there was no exception,” Fabbri said.

Senior guard Felicia Barron led the Bobcats heading into the locker room with seven points and a 32-15 lead. She would finish the game with nine points, five rebounds and four steals.

In the second half it was all Quinnipiac once again through the first 10 minutes. Saint Francis didn’t get its first basket of the sec-ond half until 2:45 in and then it went 8:56 before scoring again. The Bobcats rallied for 18 points during the span and held a 55-17 lead with 8:34 seconds remaining in the game.

Although the Bobcats’ defense was stifling the whole game, allowing the lowest point to-tal in the 18-year history of the NEC, the most impressive stat may have been the lack of points for Saint Francis forward Alli Williams, who led her team in scoring at 17.5 points per game which was second in the NEC. Williams finished the first half with no points on 0-of-4 shooting and got just one basket to fall in the second on a layup. She also turned the ball over three times.

McQuain ended up leading the Bobcats with eight points in the second half to finish with a game-high 14. She also grabbed seven rebounds and was named NEC Tournament MVP averaging 11.67 points per game to go along with 10.3 rebounds per game.

Sophomore guard Jasmine Martin, who was the spark in the second half that propelled Quinnipiac in the semifinals, picked up two early fouls and sat for most of the first half. She, however, never worried that her sitting would hurt her team.

“I’m so proud of my team, how they stepped up,” Martin said. “I wasn’t worried for a second. I really wasn’t. The passion that I have seen in the 14 other of my teammates is unreal and I knew that they were going to hold us down. It was amazing to watch the first half because I didn't play. It was amazing to watch what my team was capable of.”

Samantha Guastella finished in second in scoring for the Bobcats with 10 points off the bench along with seven rebounds. Martin fin-ished with eight points and Abshire had six to go along with six assists and eight rebounds, both of which led the team.

For the Red Flash, Alexa Hayward was the top scorer with eight. Kelley Doogan was the only other player with more than four points as she finished with six off the bench.

The Bobcats also dominated on the boards, outrebounding Saint Francis 54-38.

With 1:41 remaining in the game, Fab-

bri was able to give her two seniors a warm round of applause from the crowd as she took them out of the game for the last time at the TD Bank Sports Center. As each of them made their way to the bench, Fabbri gave them a hug and whispered one thing into their ear.

“Thanks for making my dream come true,” Fabbri said.

On Monday night, the team watched the name it wears on the front of its gold and blue jerseys appear in front of the players’ eyes on the TV screen in the NCAA selec-tion show.

“You know, you dream of that as a little girl growing up,” Lebak said. “It’s the only thing you want to see, you and your school’s name in lights on the big screen and you know what, we finally accomplished that and it’s the best feeling ever. You accomplished a goal you set since you were little and it’s awesome.”

Fabbri, who was named NEC Coach of the Year this season after completing a perfect 18-0 conference schedule, is in her 18th year at Quinnipiac and has brought the program up from the bottom.

“For me, this is fantastic,” Fabbri ex-claimed. “Personally, watching Quinnipiac go up on the screen in the field of 64 is just my dream come true.”

Not only did Quinnipiac complete the regular season sweep of the conference, but it added three more tournament wins to that mark, making it a perfect 21-0 against confer-ence opponents in its last season in the NEC. The last opponent to top the Bobcats was Monmouth in the aforementioned semifinal game more than a year ago.

The win also extended the team’s winning streak to 22 games and gave it 30 wins on the season, both of which are program records. Quinnipiac is also just one of six teams in the NCAA to finish with 30 wins joining power-houses Duke, Baylor, Notre Dame, Delaware and Stamford.

The Bobcats earned a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face No. 4 seed Maryland on Saturday in College Park, Md.

“They’re going to be excited to go out and not only represent Quinnipiac but the North-east Conference really well. We’re going to be very very excited about where we are going and who we are going to play because I know these young ladies they compete.”

By Joe Addonizio Sports Editor

the championShip Saga

MATT EISENBERG/CHRoNICLE

The women’s basketball team celebrates with the NEC Tournament trophy following a 72-33 punishment of Saint Francis (Pa.), the biggest victory in the history of the conference.

the tRiUmphmarch 17, 2013

the titLe gamemarch 17, 2013

the SeLection Showmarch 18, 2013

the Big Dancemarch 23, 2013

the DiSappointmentmarch 6, 2012

what’ssee

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award-winning website since 2009on ph

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Check out a gallery of the NEC Championship game online.

Watch fans storm the court and the team cut down the net.

The Quinnipiac Chronicle

@quchronicle

T h e Q u i n n i p i a c C h r o n i c l e2 | S p o r t s M a r c h 2 0 , 2 0 1 3

AWARD

Martin: ‘We’re ready to shock the world’The Quinnipiac women’s basketball team

will play the University of Maryland in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in College Park, Md.

On Monday night, the women’s basketball team, coaches and school administrators gath-ered in the University Club at the TD Bank Sports Center to watch the seeding of the 64-team field revealed live on ESPN.

The selection committee awarded the Northeast Conference Champion Quinnipiac Bobcats (30-2), who earned an automatic bid into the tournament by winning the NEC title, the No. 13 seed in the Bridgeport region.

They will travel to the University of Mary-land to take on the nationally ranked (No. 10/12) and fourth-seeded Terrapins (24-7) this weekend, where they believe they can be a bracket buster, despite being a little known team to much of the nation.

“We’re ready to shock the world,” captain Jasmine Martin said after learning her team will play Maryland. “We’ve already done something that’s never been done in school history, now we’re trying to make NEC histo-ry. We’ll do whatever it takes, and we’ll keep fighting until we lose.”

The team finished the season with an 18-0 record within the NEC, and concluded the

regular season schedule with an overall mark of 30-2, on its way to winning the basketball program’s first conference title in 18 years in the NEC.

Its only two losses were at the hands of Hartford and Georgia Tech, both of which came in December. Since the loss to Georgia Tech, the Bobcats have rattled off 22 straight victories and enter the NCAA Tournament with momentum and confidence.

“They’re just another team with jerseys on, just like us,” senior Felicia Barron said. “We’re not going to look at their name as be-ing any different than ours.”

“They’re (the media) is going to ask ‘Who’s Quinnipiac?’” Barron added. “We’re going to go down there and show them who we are.”

There was a sense of pride, accomplish-ment and excitement at the viewing party. The NEC Championship trophy was on full dis-play, draped over it was the net that the team had cut down days before upon capturing the NEC title.

The team, which sat together in three rows of seats watching the seeds being announced, erupted upon hearing its name mentioned on ESPN in the same conversation as basketball powerhouses including Baylor and UConn.

The significance of the moment became palpable when seeing members of the school administration sitting behind the players to

watch the historic moment.In attendance was Bill Schweizer and Billy

Mecca, Quinnipiac’s basketball broadcasting tandem, Mark Thompson, senior vice president for academic and student affairs, Dominic Yoia, associate vice president & university director of financial aid, John Morgan, associate vice president for public relations, and Al Carbone, associate dean of admissions.

Administrators in the athletic department spoke about the significance of a NCAA Tour-nament appearance for continued growth of the athletic department as well as the positive effect such an accomplishment has for the university.

“It’s just another great step for Quinnipi-ac,” Director of Athletics and Recreation Jack McDonald said. “We continue to have bench-mark moments even after 18 years of Division I athletics. I think it validates to the general public what a great place this is. I know it, but the people around the country who are going to watch the show tonight will see Quinnipiac in the bracket and say, ‘Wow, that’s a pretty good school.’”

Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri em-braced the moment but was ready to continue with the season.

“We’ve had such a good year,” Fabbri said. “Getting 30 wins is a number that may never be seen again while I’m here because it’s a ton of wins. So, we’re a confident team and I think

we play really good defense and that translates into really good offense, and we’re feeling good about everything we’re doing.”

The Terrapins have won 10 Atlantic Coast Conference championships and, in 2006, won the national championship. This season, they finished in third place behind Duke and the University of North Carolina.

They also lost to the Tar Heels in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, 72-65, on March 9.

Their head coach, Brenda Frese, won her third ACC Coach of the Year award this season.

They present two big threats down low in Alyssa Thomas and Tianna Hawkins who average more than 18 points per game each while also combining for 20 rebounds a game. They have led the Terrapins to the eighth best scoring offense in the country, averaging 75.9 points per game. Quinnipiac comes in at 25th in the same category with 71.1 points per game. Maryland also succeeds at what has been Quinnipiac’s forte lately, in rebounding averaging 44.2 rebounds per game and pos-sess the second best rebounding margin in the country at 14.2. The Bobcats average 40.2 rebounds per game on the season but hold a rebounding margin of -2.7

If the Bobcats get past Maryland, they will play the winner of No. 5 Michigan State and No. 12 Marist at College Park, on Monday.

By Dan Dolph Staff Writer

FeliciA bARRon JAsmine mARtin

tRiciA FAbbRi

bRittAny mcquAin2013 tournament mVP

nec All-tournament team

2013 nec Regular season second-team

seAson

nec All-tournament team

nec All-tournament team

nec Defensive Player of the year

2013 nec Regular season third-team

2013 nec Regular season First-team nec coach of the year

T h e Q u i n n i p i a c C h r o n i c l e S p o r t s | 3M a r c h 2 0 , 2 0 1 3

Sportscoach’s corner

“How united this team is in achieving one goal is what has been so special for me as a person and coach who has done this my entire life.”

quchronicle.com/sportssports@quchronicle.com

@quchronsports

— Tricia fabbriWomen’s basketball

The Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team has faced adversity all year long.

Trying to maintain a 21-game unbeaten streak and dealing with the target of being the nation’s No. 1 team for five weeks are just ex-amples of the pressure that the Bobcats have faced.

Sunday night, in the third and final game of the ECAC quarterfinals against Cornell at the High Point Solutions Arena, Quinnipiac faced even more adversity. Down 2-1 with a minute remaining, the Bobcats pulled goalie Eric Hartzell.

Looking for a goal, senior forward Clay Harvey found the puck amid a scrum of bod-ies in front of the Cornell net and blasted

it past goalie Andy Iles to tie the game at 2 with only 1:04 remaining. After a scoreless first overtime, Kevin Bui then won it for the Bobcats 14:08 into the second overtime pe-riod, putting it through the five-hole of Iles. With the 3-2 win, Quinnipiac moves on to the ECAC semifinals this weekend in Atlantic City.

“That was a great college hockey game,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “I’m extremely excited. It was some good dra-ma, and our guys battled back well.”

For Bui, it was his second goal of the sea-son.

“I was just trying to get up ice as quick as I possibly could,” Bui said. “I found a way to get it past Iles, and the next thing I know a bunch of bodies are on top of me celebrating.”

For Cornell, the story of the night was Iles. The junior goalie made 60 saves.

“Iles was the best player on the ice, just like Friday night,” Pecknold said. “I give him a lot of credit.”

On the other side of the ice, Hartzell made 29 saves of his own.

Quinnipiac will play Brown next Friday, in hopes of advancing to the ECAC champion-ship game on Saturday.

“We played three really tough games in three days,” Pecknold said. “We’ve got to get some rest, then get ready for next weekend.”

Braden Birch netted the first goal of the night only 48 seconds in. He skated past two Quinnipiac defenders, then went top shelf on Hartzell, ending the Bobcats’ streak of scoring the game’s first goal at seven.

Quinnipiac then tied the game with 10:16 left in the second period as junior defenseman Zach Tolkinen drilled a shot from the point past Iles.

The Big Red regained the lead only 64 seconds later when Cornell forward Brian Fer-lin sniped a shot past Hartzell. It was Ferlin’s third goal of the series.

Harvey netted the goal to tie the game, and Bui to win it.

The Bobcats outshot the Big Red, 15-8, in the first overtime, then 14-1 in the second.

Loren Barron, Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Jeremy Langlois all had an assist on the night.

Ten posts were hit on the night, five by each team. Quinnipiac found iron twice in the two overtime periods, Cornell once.

Bui buries game-winner to send ‘Cats to semis

Matt eisenberg/CHroniCle

Loren Barron (left) and Zack Currie (right) skate over to Kevin Bui after his game-winning goal in double overtime of Game 3 of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals.

anna brundage/CHroniCle

Quinnipiac celebrates while Cornell players collapse in disbelief after Kevin Bui scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime in Sunday’s Game 3.

Atlantic City, N.J., has always been home to the nightlife, the casinos, the beaches…

Since 2011, however, it has been home to the ECAC men’s ice hockey championship. The Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team travels to Atlantic City for the first time Friday when it takes on Brown in the ECAC semifinals at Boardwalk Hall at 4 p.m.

The Bobcats and Bears tied both meet-ings this year. Connor Jones scored the lone Bobcat goal, while Eric Hartzell stopped 30 of 31 shots in a 1-1 tie on Feb. 1 at Meehan Au-ditorium. Across the sheet, Brown goaltender

Anthony Borelli made 38 saves on 39 shots.This is Borelli’s first season as the start-

ing goaltender, and the stats prove it could not be any more spectacular. Through 26 games played, the junior has recorded a .942 save percentage and a 1.87 goals against average, good for first and third in the ECAC, respec-tively. Borelli’s save percentage also ranks third in the nation.

In their second contest of the year, the Bobcats and Bears played to a 3-3 final in Hamden. Jordan Samuels-Thomas scored twice, while Russell Goodman added a tally of his own. Quinnipiac held a 3-1 lead until 17:44 of the third period, when Brown slashed

the lead to 3-2. Twenty-four seconds later, the Bears tied the game at 3, forcing a scoreless overtime.

This past weekend, in what was one of the more eventful playoff series in program history, Quinnipiac defeated Cornell in three games, the series-clinching goal coming in double over-time off the stick of Kevin Bui. Game 2 was also extraordinary, as the Bobcats defeated the Big Red, 10-0, scoring in double-digits for the first time since Nov. 11, 2000, vs. Fairfield.

As for Brown, the Bears upset the favored Rensselaer in three games last weekend, even though the Engineers outscored Brown, 9-8, in the series. In the first round of ECAC Tour-

nament play, the Bears swept Clarkson in two games, downing the Golden Knights 3-0 and 4-3.

On the offensive side of the puck, Matt Lo-rito leads Brown with 20 goals and 35 points. Dennis Robertson tops the squad in the assist column, as the junior defenseman has notched 16 on the year.

In 2011-12, Quinnipiac defeated Brown in three games in the first round of the ECAC Tournament. In 2010-11, the Bobcats also de-feated the Bears in the first round, this time coming via a two-game sweep.

The Bobcats are currently first in the Pair-Wise rankings, trailed by Minnesota.

SemifinalS ChampionShip gamethird-plaCe gameLoser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2

saturday, 4 p.m.

No. 7 Brown vs. No. 1 QuinnipiacFriday, 4 p.m.

No. 4 Union vs. No. 3 YaleFriday, 7:30 p.m.

Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2saturday, 7 p.m.

Champion earns automatic bid to NCAA Tournament

four te

ams, one goal: Conference title on the line

T h e Q u i n n i p i a c C h r o n i c l e4 | s p o r t s M a r c h 2 0 , 2 0 1 3

By NiCk Solaristaff Writer

By BryaN lipiNerassociate sports editor