Colgate University (8-15-5, 3-10-3 ECAC) topped the Quinnipiac Bobcats (14-12-2, 7-7-2 ECAC) 3-2 in an overtime thriller at Starr Rink. First line seniors David McIntyre and Peter Bogdanich scored all three Colgate goals.
Coach Don Vaughn gave a lot of credit to his seniors.
“McIntyre played in another gear tonight; Bogdanich has great offensive instincts; they played a lot of minutes tonight.”
Colgate freshman goalie Brian Bessette recorded his first career start, win and overtime win.
“I give a lot of credit to Bessette” said Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold.
Although the start of the contest was delayed because of a broken pane of glass behind the Quinnipiac net during warm-ups, the game was quick to heat up once the puck dropped 25 minutes late.
Quinnipiac junior winger Jean-Marc Beaudoin opened the scoring at 3:46, netting his twelfth of the season. Senior defender Andrew Meyer recorded an assist during the scrum in front of Bessette.
Colgate answered back at 11:52 when Bogdanich netted a wrist shot from just outside Dan Clarke’s crease. After collecting his own rebound, McIntyre walked the puck into the corner to Clarke’s left and sent a pass to Bogdanich for his second goal of the year.
The second frame was a period of decisive Colgate penalties. At 10:33, Mark Anderson was sent to the box for interference. The Bobcats set up a strong power play in the Colgate zone. Meyer took a feed at the blue line and passed to his defensive partner, Sorteberg. He passed the puck back to Meyer, who unloaded a slap shot on Bessette’s right pad. Zurevinski collected the rebound and slid it in by Bessette at 12:08 for his ninth of the season.
At 17:06 Francois Brisebois was whistled for high sticking; this time the Raiders’ penalty kill never allowed the Bobcats to set up in front of Bessette, sending the puck the length of the ice several times. On one such occasion, Clarke roamed from his net to play the puck. He gathered it at the dot to his right and lifted it back toward the neutral zone. A streaking McIntyre knocked the puck out of the air by the top of the circle, collected it and found the back of the open net.
The third period belonged to Bessette. Pecknold noted that Quinnipiac had “opportunities all game; we just couldn’t put it in;” even on Colgate’s fourth and fifth penalties.
“We did a good job getting in the lanes,” Vaughn said of his man-down play, “Our best penalty killer tonight was Bessette.”
At 19:02 in the third, Sorteberg went to the box for hooking, which ultimately proved costly.
“You can’t take a penalty with a minute left and expect to win in this league,” said Pecknold.
After two Colgate shots on Clarke, the horn sounded the end of regulation.
As Sorteberg’s penalty was winding down at the start of the overtime period, the Raiders set up the power play in the Quinnipiac zone. Mark Anderson took the puck at the point and passed across to McIntyre to the center on the blue line. He sent a pass through traffic to Bogdanich waiting to the right of Clarke, and he fired it home. The Raiders mobbed Bogdanich along the boards in front of a raging Colgate crowd.
Both teams are back on the ice next Friday, February 13; the Bobcats return to TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden, CT to host the Saints of St. Lawrence (14-11-3, 6-7-7 ECAC). Colgate travels to the Bright Hockey Center in Cambridge MA to take on the Crimson of Harvard
University (5-13-4, 5-7-4 ECAC).
