Russell Goodman scored the first and last goals of the game for the Quinnipiac Bobcats in a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over Colgate Raiders.
Quinnipiac got a lot of pressure late in the third, helped by a pair of Colgate penalties. The Bobcats went on a shortened two-man advantage. Colgate killed off the first penalty, but the Raiders still had 30 seconds of five-on-four to deal with before a potential overtime period.
With just 13 seconds left on the clock, Kellen Jones wristed a shot on net that Raiders goalie Eric Mihalik stopped. The rebound came right to Jeremy Langlois, but he couldn’t tip it in. Then with seven seconds left in regulation, Langlois gained space in the left circle, where he one timed the puck off the left post.
“The crowd was rocking, the students were into it, and Langlois hit the post and I thought the game was over there,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said.
Just 1:22 into overtime, Clay Harvey took control of the puck in the neutral zone and made a move for the Colgate zone. As he made his way through the right circle, he wristed a shot on net. Mihalik made the first stop, but Goodman was there for the rebound.
“I actually tried dumping the puck, but I duffed it,” Harvey said smiling. “So I rechipped it past the defenseman and it just worked out. I had a step on the guy and I just threw it at the net.”
While Harvey’s effort started the play, it was Goodman’s hustle that finished it.
“I just kind of followed it up and he put the puck on net,” Goodman said. “I saw it kind of sitting there and the [Mihalik] fumbled it and I just took a whack at it and it went in.”
The Bobcats took the early 1-0 lead 8:08 into the first period on a heads-up play from Goodman. Zach Davies wristed the puck on net from the left point, but his shot was deflected behind the net. The puck bounced off the end boards and onto Goodman’s stick just to the right of Mihalik. Goodman saw his opportunity and quickly wristed the puck past Mihalik, who was still stuck on the left side of the net.
Colgate answered back just 17 seconds later on a blast from the left point. Ryan Johnston fed Spiro Goulakos at the blue line, who wound up and ripped a shot into the top right corner of the net to tie the score.
The Raiders still weren’t done. After a QU bench minor penalty, the Raiders added another goal to take the lead. Robbie Bourdon fed Thomas Larkin at the left point. Goulakos must have shared the scoring secret with Larkin, because he blasted a shot of his own high-glove side to beat Eric Hartzell again.
The Bobcats knotted the score with 2:50 left in the second period on a Loren Barron power-play goal. Zack Currie dished the puck to a wide-open Barron in the slot, where he one-timed the puck past Mihalik.
The power-play goal is the first of the season for the Bobcats in 30 attempts.
“It’s just a confidence thing,” Pecknold said. “The difference tonight is that when we didn’t score in situations, our guys didn’t give up. They kept going.”
Despite losing to AIC, 2-1, on Tuesday, Pecknold still believes his team has the talent not only to win, but to beat anyone.
“Tonight was great,” Pecknold said. “We could have beaten anyone in the country tonight.”
Colgate head coach Don Vaughan was not available for comment following the game.
