Quinnipiac University
St. Lawrence
No. 13 Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Tops No. 20 St. Lawrence, 2-1
2/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
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HAMDEN, Conn. - The nationally-ranked No. 13 Quinnipiac University men's ice hockey team defeated No. 20 St. Lawrence, 2-1, in an ECAC Hockey match-up at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center. With the win, Quinnipiac improves to 19-8-2 overall and 14-2-1 in ECAC Hockey while St. Lawrence drops to 16-11-2 overall including a 12-5-0 ECAC Hockey mark.
The Bobcats' win against the Saints ends St. Lawrence's seven-game winning streak while Quinnipiac improves to 8-0-1 in its last nine ECAC Hockey games. It also ends a four-game slide for the Bobcats against St. Lawrence at High Point Solutions Arena. The win on its home ice gives Quinnipiac its sixth sweep of a league opponent this season after the Bobcats downed the Saints, 3-2, on Nov. 22. Quinnipiac can now finish no lower than fifth place in the league standings. A tie or a win against Clarkson on Saturday, Feb. 14 would clinch a first-round bye for the Bobcats in the upcoming ECAC Hockey Tournament.
Soren Jonzzon (Mountain View, California) scored the game-tying goal before piloting Landon Smith's (Greenwood Village, Colorado) game-winning goal in the second period. On both goals, senior co-captain Matthew Peca (Petawawa, Ontario) had the primary assist on Quinnipiac's two goals, which came two minutes and 30 seconds apart. In goal, Michael Garteig (Prince George, British Columbia) stopped 23 of St. Lawrence's 24 shots on goal - including the last 20 of the game - to improve to 18-6-1 on the year and 14-2-1 in ECAC Hockey.
St. Lawrence's Sean McGovern scored his seventh goal of the season just under six minutes into the game when Ryan Lough won a battle behind the Quinnipiac goal, spun and found McGovern waiting in the slot. Lough's pass landed on McGovern's tape, who one-timed a shot by Quinnipiac's Garteig. A back-and-forth battled ensued over the final 14:19 of the period before Quinnipiac headed into the first intermission trailing, 1-0, despite outshooting the Saints, 11-8.
In the second period, it was more of the same as both teams traded Grade-A opportunities and glass-shaking hits in a period that saw the intensity kicked up a notch halfway through regulation. Less than nine minutes into the period, Smith blasted a St. Lawrence player in the corner to the right of Saints goalie Kyle Hayton, which the hit sending the puck up the boards. After a St. Lawrence player stopped the puck, with the intent to clear it down ice, Peca pinned him against the boards and pushed the puck across the blue line with a centering pass. Jonzzon floated above the face-off circles and one-timed the puck on Hayton, finding space top-shelf over Hayton's left shoulder to knot the game at 1-1.
Two minutes and 30 seconds later it was Landon Smith's turn, with Jonzzon quarterbacking the play. Jonzzon held the puck just above the blue line the Bobcats' zone before sending to Peca on the wing. Peca was tied up by a St. Lawrence defender, but was able to make an incredible play, spinning and handing the puck off to Landon Smith on the blue line in the Saints' zone. Smith walked between the face-off circle and wristed a shot over Hayton's left shoulder to give Quinnipiac a one-goal lead.
Less than two minutes into the third and final period, St. Lawrence's McGovern took off down ice after a neutral zone turnover by the Bobcats. Despite being outnumbered, McGovern made a move and split his two defenders. On the play, he was taken down, resulted in a penalty shot. Skating one-on-one with Garteig on the first penalty shot by a Quinnipiac opponent since Feb. 4, 2012, McGovern carried the puck over the blue line on his forehand before switching to his back hand while skating between the face-off circles. McGovern then brought it back to his forehand and fired a shot on Garteig, who was able to step in front of the puck and play it off his chest to preserve the win.
The remaining 19 frantic minutes on the clock produced an epic back-and-forth tussle featuring a slew of great goal-scoring opportunities for both teams. In the end, it came down to Hayton being pulled and the Saints using an extra-man to throw a final rush on Garteig. A shot by Tommy Thompson was stopped by Garteig before it was Jonzzon blocking a shot just above the crease on the rebound by Nolan Gluchowski as the final horn rang.
Quinnipiac will host Clarkson on Saturday, Feb. 14 for an ECAC Hockey match-up at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center at 7 p.m.
