Photo credits: Caiti Kaminski
It was a record-setting night for the Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey team in its 3-2 win over Union in the first game of a best-of-3 series. The game (150 minutes, 22 seconds) is the longest in NCAA history, while Dan Clarke set both Quinnipiac and ECAC Hockey Tournament records for saves with 73.
It took until the middle of the fifth overtime for the Bobcats to get the game-winner past Union goalie Keith Kinkaid. Senior forward Greg Holt gathered the puck behind Union’s net, stepped in front and fired to beat Kinkaid.
“From a competitive standpoint, my guys really wanted it,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold told timesunion.com. “This is new territory for us. We will see what happens. It’s one thing to win in one overtime, it’s quite another to win in five. My guys are pretty jacked right now. But they are absolutely beyond exhaustion — but I think Union is, too.”
Union got the scoring started just over seven minutes into the first period. Stephane Boileau stole the puck and fired a shot that beat Clarke. Union expanded its lead to 2-0 three minutes later when Mario Valery-Trabucco scored a power-play goal.
Clarke shut out the Dutchmen for the next 140 minutes, 40 seconds and gave the Bobcats the chance they needed to come back.
The Bobcats cut the lead in half when senior forward Scott Zurevinski blasted a shot from the point that beat Kinkaid stick side with 6:59 left in the first period. Freshman forward Jeremy Langlois tied the game at 2 just over a minute into the second period. Langlois received a centering pass from Holt and buried his shot in the back of the net.
The Bobcats and Dutchmen played another five and a half periods before Holt netted the game-winner.
Union will fight to keep its season going tonight at 7 in Schenectady, N.Y.
