Box Score

HAMDEN, CT -- Greg Holt's (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) four points led six Bobcats with multiple points as the Quinnipiac men's hockey team completed an ECAC Hockey First Round sweep of Brown with a 7-1 victory, Saturday night at the TD Banknorth Sports Center. The Bobcats now await the result of tomorrow's rubber match between No. 12 Dartmouth and No. 5 Cornell. If the Big Green wins, the Bobcats will face fourth-seeded Union next weekend in Schenectedy, N.Y. If Cornell wins, Quinnipiac will travel to Cambridge, Mass. to face No. 3 Harvard.

The Bobcats kept a clean record in ECAC Hockey First Round action, having never lost in three playoff appearances. The 14 goals in the last two games are the most by a Bobcat team in an ECAC playoff series and the most in back-to-back games since Oct. 29 and Nov. 3, 2006, against Union, when Quinnipiac scored 16 times.

The 14 Quinnipiac goals are the most scored in a two-game ECAC playoff round since 1996, when Cornell scored 16 in defeating Colgate in Quarterfinal action.  

Holt scored one goal and added three assists, while Brandon Wong (Victoria, British Columbia) and Jamie Bates (Toronto, Ontario) had two goals and an assist each. Dan Travis (Wilton, N.H.) netted a goal and added an assist, while Zach Hansen (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Ben Nelson (Spokane, Wash.) added two assists of their own.

Bud Fisher (Peterborough, Ontario) made 25 saves in victory while Dan Rosen took the loss for Brown, making eight saves before giving way to Mark Sibbald in the second period. Sibbald made 11 saves in 31 minutes.

"First off we're very excited to move on," said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold. "I thought our team played an excellent second and third period. The coach-ability was excellent tonight; we really bought into what we needed to be successful."

The Bobcats got on the board first with a Bates power-play goal at the 7:01 mark. Bates' shot from the half-boards found its way through a Nelson screen in front of the net just moments into the power play at 7:01. Bryan Leitch (Coquitlam, British Columbia) and Holt were credited with assists on the goal.

The Bears knotted the game at one goal apiece on a power-play goal by Ryan Garbutt at the 17:26 mark. Devin Timberlake passed the puck out of the corner, through the slot, to Garbutt, who sent a one-time slapshot over Fisher's left shoulder. Timberlake and Jeff Prough notched assists.

Just 15 seconds after Leitch's slapshot clanged off the top-right corner of the post, Hansen's pass from the neutral zone hit Wong in stride, sending him in on a breakaway. He beat Rosen stick side after making a head deke above the slot before slipping the puck into the net to give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead. Hansen and Mark Nelson (Prince George, British Columbia) assisted on the goal.

Less than two minutes later, Ben Nelson made his presence felt by setting another screen that Holt used to slap a shot past Rosen on the power play, giving Quinnipiac a two-goal advantage. Bates started the play by passing the puck from the point to Holt on the half-boards on the left side. Ben Nelson also was credited with an assist.

Wong scored his second at the 9:20 mark to give Quinnipiac a 4-1 lead. Travis sent a centering pass from the right boards into the slot, where Wong poked it in at the far side. Holt added another assist on the play as he made the initial pass to Travis along the boards. The fourth Quinnipiac goal put an end to Rosen's night, as he was pulled for the second consecutive night in the second period, in favor of Mark Sibbald.

It took Quinnipiac just over five minutes to get to Sibbald as Dan LeFort (Toronto, Ontario) scored his third goal of the season on a wrist shot along the ice that managed to sneak through the five hole. Andy Meyer (St. Louis, Mo.) sent a long pass up ice that hit LeFort at the blue line. The senior forward skated in and let the shot go from just above the right faceoff dot. Hansen set up the play by dropping the puck to Meyer before screening a defender that allowed the long pass.

The Bobcats continued to add to the lead with a Bates power-play goal at the 5:20 mark of the third. Bates passed the puck to Holt at the point before the sophomore found the team captain cutting through the slot. Bates turned around with the puck and sent a high wrist shot over Sibbald's glove for his second goal of the game. Holt earned his fourth point of the game, setting a new career high, and Ben Nelson earned his second assist of the night.  

The rout was officially on when Travis scored the Bobcats' seventh goal at the 12:43 mark. Wong came in over the blueline and dropped a pass to the six-foot-three-inch power forward just above the right circle. Travis picked up the puck and blasted a wrist shot between Sibbald's forearm and chest protector for the final goal of the contest.