Four years ago, the Union men’ hockey team played the longest game in NCAA men’s hockey history, and lost the game.
History repeated itself as Friday night turned into Saturday morning.
Greg Holt scored at 10:22 of the fifth overtime, lifting seventh-seeded Quinnipiac to a 3-2 victory over the third-seeded Dutchmen in Game 1 of the ECAC Hockey tournament quarterfinals at Messa Rink in a game that lasted five hours, 56 minutes.
There is no rest for either team. Game 2 will be tonight at 7, and the Dutchmen need to win to keep their season alive.
The game lasted 150 minutes, 22 seconds, making it the longest game in NCAA Division I history, men or women. Union (18-11-6) held the previous record of 141:35, and lost, 3-2, to Yale in the fifth OT in a game that lasted 141:35 on March 5, 2006, at Messa.
The longest women’s game was the ECAC championship game between New Hampshire and Providence on March 10, 1996.
Holt beat goalie Keith Kinkaid from the bottom of the left circle, firing a shot under his left arm.
“All of a sudden, the puck got on my stick,” Holt said. “I went one way, then another way. I had a step on the guy, and just threw it on net.”
Quinnipiac goalie Dan Clarke was outstanding, making 73 saves. He fell five saves shy of breaking RPI goalie Dick Greenlaw’s NCAA record of 78 saves against Boston University on Dec. 14, 1965.
“It’s Game 1, we lost it,” Union forward Mario Valery-Trabucco said. “[Tonight’s] Game 2, and it’s a new day. We’ll be ready to go. Their goalie played a great game, obviously. You’ve got to give him all the credit.
“Yes, this is upsetting. But we can’t stick on this game for too long.”
The Dutchmen, who hadn’t played since Feb. 27, came out with a lot of energy and spark, and overwhelmed the Bobcats. At one point, Union had a 16-4 shot advantage.
Union took a 2-0 lead on goals 2:29 apart midway through the first period. Stephane Boileau got the first one at 7:13. He took advantage of a Quinnipiac turnover in the right circle and fired a shot past Clarke.
Valery-Trabucco score on the power play at 9:42. Jason Walters’ shot from the top of the slot hit the left post. The puck caromed off of Clarke’s back and rolled toward the goal line. Valery-Trabucco got to the puck and pushed it in for his team-leading 22nd goal of the season.
Walters got an assist, giving him 114 career points. That ties him with Jordan Webb (2001-05) for most points in Union’s 19-year Division I history.
With the Dutchmen seemingly in control, it didn’t look like the Bobcats were going to put up much of a fight.
But that changed with 6:59 left. The Bobcats caught Union in a line change. Eric Lampe skated down the left side into the Union zone. He passed the puck to Scott Zurevinski on his right. Zurevinski fired a shot past Kinkaid. That goal settled the Bobcats down. Despite being outshot, 19-7, in the opening period, Quinnipiac carried the momentum of Zurevinski’s goal into the second.
The Bobcats tied the score early in the second on the power play. Thirty-one seconds after Greg Coburn was called for interference, Holt rushed down the right side, and saw Jeremy Langlois coming down the slot. Langlois one-timed Holt’s pass past Kinkaid to tie the score.
Union looked disorganized the entire period. The Dutchmen weren’t making crisp passes and had too many unforced turnovers.
The result was the Union had just one shot on goal in the second. However, the Dutchmen escaped the period tied at 2-2.
Union had a great chance to break the tie when Quinnipiac’s Russell Goodman was called for a five-minute boarding major just under six minutes into the third period. Goodman hit Boileau from behind in front of the Quinnipiac bench.
But the Dutchmen managed just two shots on goal. The Bobcats also had two shots on goal during Union’s power play.
Union got another power play late in the period when Eric Lampe hooked Walters at the Quinnipiac blue line. Adam Presizniuk sent a backhander wide with a half-second left. The game headed to overtime.
The Dutchmen lost Boileau early in the first overtime with an apparent leg injury.
Union held Quinnipiac without a shot for nearly the first 14 minutes of the first OT. The Dutchmen had an 8-3 shot edge, but the game moved on the second OT.
The Dutchmen had the better of the play in the second OT, outshooting the Bobcats, 17-6. But it was a great defensive play by Valery-Trabucco with 12:20 left.
As Kinkaid went behind the net to play the puck, he lost his stick. The puck hit the stick, and deflected into the slot. Ketchum got to the puck, and the game-ending goal ready to go. But Valery-Trabucco hustled back and blocked it.
Quinnipiac 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 3
Union 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 2
First Period — 1, Union, Boileau 8, 7:13. 2, Union, Valery-Trabucco 22 (Walters, Zajac), 9:42 (pp). 3, Quinnipiac, Zurevinski 16 (Lampe), 13:01. Penalty — Langlois, Qui (tripping), 9:25.
Second Period — 4, Quinnipiac, Langlois 8 (Holt, Davies), 1:12 (pp). Penalties — Coburn, Uni (interference), :41; Zajac, Uni (tripping), 15:19; Welsh, Uni (slashing), 17:08.
Third Period — Non. Penalties — Walters, Uni (contact to head-elbowing), 1:29; Goodwin, Qui, major (boarding), 5:57; Zajac, Uni (boarding), 12:29; Lampe, Qui (hooking), 18:05.
First Overtime — None. Penalties — None.
Second Overtime — None. Penalties — Ketchum, Qui (tripping), 2:52; Buote, Uni (tripping), 14:25; Wong, Qui (hooking), 14:45.
Third Overtime — None. Penalties — None.
Fourth Overtime — None. Penalties — Atkinson, Qui (hooking), 19:06; Walters, Qui (hooking), 19:18.
Fifth Overtime — 5, Quinnipiac, Holt 10, 10:22. Penalties — None.
Shots on Goal — Quinnipiac 7-11-9-3-6-10-6-3 — 55. Union 19-1-7-8-17-12-7-4 — 75.
Power-play opportunities — Quinnipiac 1 of 7; Union 1 of 6.
Goalies — Quinnipiac, Clarke 15-13-2 (75 shots-73 saves). Union, Kinkaid 11-7-3 (55-52).
A — 1,826. T — 5:57.
Referees — Bryan Hicks, Derek Wahl. Linesmen — Mike Emanatian, Chris Piti.
Categories: College Sports
