Joe Devin proved himself to be a Bobcat killer.
Cornell’s senior recorded his second two-goal night against the Bobcats this year, and shut the door on Quinnipiac’s season with a game- and series-winner in overtime on Sunday at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y.
Devin finished the series scoring four of the Big Red’s five goals.
The loss marks the fourth straight year that the Bobcats bowed out in the ECAC quarterfinals. The Bobcats fell to Union (2010), St. Lawrence (2009), and Harvard (2008) in previous years.
It was a rollercoaster game for Quinnipiac, who trailed 2-0 until the eighth minute of the third period, when junior captain Scott Zurevinski batted in a goal to cut the Big Red lead to one. Yuri Bouharevich tied the game up five minutes later.
“I’m proud of the way we competed late in the game and battled,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. “We dug ourselves in a hole early in the game, but we battled and got back in the game. It says something that we came back from being down two.”
Devin, though, had the last laugh. The senior put home a pass from Sean Whitney 10 minutes into the overtime period to push the Big Red onto the ECAC semifinals.
“To score two goals in a game against Cornell is a feat in itself,” Quinnipiac associate head coach Ben Syer said. “To score two in the third to tie it up … our guys didn’t quit. We had some chances too in overtime, but we got caught in a bit of a turnover at the blue line, and they were able to roll. I think they had at least one change – if they didn’t have two changes – that’s how long they were in our zone. Unfortunately, that’s not usually a recipe for success.”
Patrick Kennedy opened the scoring 3:13 into the first period with a power-play goal, and Devin scored Cornell’s second goal 12 minutes into the second.
Quinnipiac was 0-12 on the power play in the series.
