Yale and Union Play in Longest Men's Hockey Game in NCAA History

Bulldogs earn win in fifth overtime

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- After six hours and 10 minutes, we finally had a winner at Messa Rink in men's hockey action, with Yale defeating Union 3-2 in the fifth overtime. Official game time was 141:35, with David Meckler scoring short-handed to win the game for Yale. Zach Mayer assisted on the goal. The game now goes into the record books as the longest ever played in men's NCAA hockey history.

The victory was Yale's second in two nights, giving the No. 11 seeded Bulldogs the ECAC Hockey League first-round series win over the No. 6 seeded Dutchmen. Yale now advances to the ECACHL quarterfinals and will play either Dartmouth or Colgate. The quarterfinal matchups will be determined once the first-round competition ends this evening (March 5), with No. 12 Brown taking on No. 5 St. Lawrence in game three of their best-of-three series.

Freshman Alec Richards had 57 saves for Yale, while senior Kris Mayotte made 58 saves for Union. Both were spectacular in net.

The full box score can be found here: http://www.collegehockeystats.net/0506/boxes/muniyal1.m04

The previous NCAA record was 129:30, set March 8, 1997 -- a Colorado College 1-0 win vs. Wisconsin in the WCHA first round.

The game also went 20+ minutes longer than the previous ECACHL mark of 121:05 -- a March 14, 2003 contest with Colgate beating Dartmouth 4-3 in the first game of a league quarterfinal series.