Bobcats Dealt Overtime Loss By Colgate
HAMDEN, CT -- The Quinnipiac University men's hockey team lost to Colgate, 4-3 in overtime, in an ECAC Hockey match-up at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden, Conn. With the loss, the Bobcats drop to 17-11-4 overall and 9-7-4 in ECAC Hockey. Colgate improves to 14-13-5 overall and 8-8-4 in league play.
Despite solid special teams play by Quinnipiac, which saw the Bobcats score on three of five power play opportunities while also killing off all seven penalties, Peter Bodganich's goal with a minute left in overtime sent Quinnipiac to their second straight overtime loss and fourth overall. It is the first time Quinnipiac lost back-to-back overtime games since the 1996-97 season when Quinnipiac lost to Western New England on Feb. 2 and Fairfield on Feb. 5.
Greg Holt (Sinai, N.Y.) put the Bobcats out in front at the 7:50 mark in the first period on a power play goal to give Quinnipiac a 1-0 lead. The Bobcats, with the man advantage, put a rush on Colgate goalie Mark Dekanich. Dan Henningson (Edmonton, Alb.) had a shot on goal that sailed wide of the net before Jamie Bates (Toronto, Ont.) dug it out of the corner and fed Ben Nelson (Spokane, Wash.) on the right flank. Nelson found Holt at the point, who then skated through the Colgate defense and slipped a wrist shot past Dekanich to give Quinnipiac the early lead. Holt's goal was his third of the year, while Nelson and Bates picked up their 14th and 17th assists, respectively.
Colgate tied the game at the 9:02 mark when Brian Day handled the puck along the boards on the right wing before feeding David McIntyre. McIntyre sliced through the Quinnipiac defense, faked right and then beat Quinnipiac's Bud Fisher (Peterborough, Ont.) on the backhand with the equalizer.
McIntyre had a chance to give Colgate the lead just over six minutes into the second period when the sophomore wing took off on a breakaway. Going one-on-one with Fisher, McIntyre's blast from the left face-off circle was stopped to preserve the tie.
Brandon Wong (Victoria, B.C.) gave Quinnipiac a 2-1 lead at the 8:04 mark of the second period on the Bobcats' power play. Holt's shot from the left wing was blocked by Dekanich, but Dan Travis (Wilton, N.H.) got the rebound and attempted to put the shot back on goal. The shot was deflected off a Colgate skate and trickled out to Wong, who was crashing the net. The goal made Wong the sixth Bobcat this season to score 10 goals while Travis and Holt pick up their fourth and eighth assists of the year, respectively.
Day tied the game at the 14:50 mark when he tipped a rebound
past Fisher from the left of the goal. McIntyre fed Tom Riley,
whose blast from the right face-off circle was stopped by Fisher.
The puck slid from Fisher's glove as Day poked it onto the ice and
into the goal to knot the game at 2-2. Day's goal was his ninth of
the year, while McIntyre and Riley pick up their 16th
and 13th assists, respectively.
Tyler Burton scored the go-ahead goal at the 3:00 mark when he
broke up a Quinnipiac clear behind the Bobcats' net. Burton's
wrap-around beat Fisher top shelf to give the Raiders a 3-2 lead.
Quinnipiac scored their third power play goal of the game at the 6:26 mark. The Bobcats moved the puck around the Raiders' defensive zone before it was broken up by the Colgate defense. The puck trickled out to Bryan Leitch (Coquitlam, B.C.) whose blast beat Dekanich glove-side to the top right corner of the net. It was the first time since March 3, 2007 that the Bobcats scored three power play goals in one game. The last time occurred in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament against Union in a 5-4 overtime win.
In overtime, Burton skated into the Quinnipiac zone from the right flank and split both Bobcat defenders. He then made a centering pass to the front of the crease where Bogdanovich chipped it to the top left corner past Fisher for the game-winning goal.
Quinnipiac returns to action on Friday, Feb. 29 when they travel to Canton, N.Y. to take on St. Lawrence in an ECAC Hockey match-up at Appleton Arena. Quinnipiac will then play their final regular season game against Clarkson on Saturday at Cheel Arena in Potsdam, N.Y.
