Bobcats Fall in ECAC Hockey Championship Contest

Saturday, March 20

Hamden, Conn.

4:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

17-7-4

St. Lawrence

6-8-3

OT 1

St. Lawrence

Quinnipiac

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

3/20/2021 7:08:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

St. Lawrence Overcomes Deficit to Defeat #10/10 Men's Ice Hockey in Overtime, 3-2

By: QU Athletic Communications

HAMDEN, Conn. – Odeen Tufto (Chaska, Minnesota) and Wyatt Bongiovanni (Birmingham, Michigan) each scored a goal Saturday night but No. 10/10 Quinnipiac men's ice hockey team fell, 3-2, in overtime of the 2021 ECAC Hockey Championship game.

The Saints came from behind, overcoming a 2-1 deficit, to win their first ECAC Hockey Championship since 2001.

St. Lawrence's Kaden Pickering scored just 3:07 into the game to put the Saints up 1-0, a lead they carried into the first intermission.

Tufto tied the game with 12:05 left in the second period as he fired a shot from the left wing that banked off St. Lawrence goaltender Emil Zetterquist's skate and into the net to make it 1-1.

Bongiovanni, playing in his first game since Dec. 26, gave the Bobcats a 2-1 lead just 12 seconds later. The Saints turned the puck over in the defensive end, and Ty Smilanic (Denver, Colo.) played the puck to Skyler Brind'Amour (Raleigh, North Carolina) where he found Bongiovanni streaking down the weak side for the goal.

Both Zetterquist and Quinnipiac goaltender Keith Petruzzelli (Wilbraham, Massachusetts) made big saves throughout the remainder of the second period and most of the third. Petruzzelli made two big stops on shorthanded rushes from the Saints for two of his 25 saves.

Justin Paul tied the game with 3:48 to go in the period as he chipped the puck in the zone and won the battle to the puck. He played it back for Luc Salem, where Salem ripped a shot from above the left circle but it was saved by Petruzzelli. The rebound dropped right out to Paul, where he buried it in the back of the net.

Both teams had a couple looks in overtime before David Jankowski carried the puck back into the offensive zone, skated toward the slot and wristed the puck through traffic over Petruzzelli's shoulder.

SCORE
St. Lawrence 3, Quinnipiac 2

RECORDS
#10/10 Quinnipiac (17-7-4, 10-4-4 ECAC)| St. Lawrence (5-8-3, 4-8-2 ECAC)

LOCATION
Frank Perrotti Jr. Arena at People's United Center | Hamden, Conn.

SCORING SUMMARY

(3:07, 1st period) – Quinnipiac 0, St. Lawrence 1: Kaden Pickering gave the Saints a lead early in the game as Jankowski passed the puck up the far boards for Philip Alftberg who fired a shot from above the left circle that was saved by Petruzzelli. Pickering dove for the rebound and backhanded the puck home for the game's first goal.
(7:55, 2^nd period) – Quinnipiac 1, St. Lawrence 1: Tufto tied the game for the Bobcats near the midway point of the second period as Zach Metsa (Delafield, Wisconsin) hit Ethan de Jong (North Vancouver, British Columbia) with a quick pass and de Jong backhanded the puck to Tufto along the end line. He skated toward the goal before fired the shot off Zetterquist's skate and into the goal.
(8:07, 2^nd period) – Quinnipiac 2, St. Lawrence 1: Bongiovanni tied the game 12 seconds later as Smilanic caused a turnover and chipped the puck to Brind'Amour in the offensive zone. Brind'Amour quickly backhanded a pass to Bongiovanni on the weak side where he wristed the puck over Zetterquist's glove.
(16:22, 3^rd period) – Quinnipiac 2, St. Lawrence 2: Paul tied the game for the Saints with just 3:48 to go in regulation as he cleaned up the rebound on top of the crease off a Salem shot from the left point.
(3:44, Overtime) – Quinnipiac 2, St. Lawrence 3: Jankowski scored the game-winning goal just 3:44 into overtime as Salem chipped the puck up off a clear attempt to Jankowski. He skated into the offensive, and moved towards the slot where he wristed the puck over Petruzzelli's shoulder.

NOTES

Saturday marked the first time in ECAC Hockey history that the Championship game was played on a campus site since the league's inception in 1961-62.
Tufto's goal was his seventh of the season as he extended his current point streak to seven games.
He has scored goals in three of his last four games
Tufto's goal was his 166^th point, and pulled him within three points of tying the Division I points record of 169 held by Bryan Leitch '09 and Brian Herbert '03.
Bongiovanni scored in his first game back in the lineup since Dec. 26, his fifth goal of the season.
He has goals in five of the eight games he has played this season, including two straight.
de Jong recorded an assist to extend his point streak to a career-high seven games.
He tied his career-high with his 15^th assist of the season, and now has 29 points to pull within a point of his first 30-point season.
de Jong and Peter DiLiberatore (Bedford, Nova Scotia) each played in their 100^th career games Saturday.
Metsa picked up his 21^st assist of the season with his helper on Tufto's goal.
He now has points in seven of his last eight games.
Smilanic recorded his seventh assist of the season and 21^st point on Bongiovanni's goal.
Brind'Amour tied his career-high with his ninth assist of the season, matching his total for the 2019-20 season.

NEXT GAME

Tune into the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament Selection Show Sunday night at 7 p.m. on ESPNU to find out if the Bobcats are selected to compete in the 2021 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
For more information on Quinnipiac men's ice hockey, visit gobobcats.com/mih and follow the Bobcats on Twitter and Instagram, @QU_MIH.