March
16, 2007
ECACHL Semifinals
New
Kid in Town
In its first visit to Albany and the
ECACHL semifinals, Quinnipiac advances
By
Inside College Hockey Staff
| Quinnipiac
4, St. Lawrence 0 |
| Team |
Goal |
Str |
| Time |
Assists |
| First
Period |
| 1-QU |
Ben
Nelson (16) |
EV |
| 5:10 |
B.
Leitch, J. Duncan |
| Second
Period |
| 2-QU |
Brandon
Wong (27) |
PP |
| 6:52 |
R.
Cashman, D. Marshall |
| 3-QU |
David
Marshall (17) |
EV |
| 19:25 |
unassisted |
| Third
Period |
| 7-QU |
Ben
Nelson (17) |
EV |
| 15:55 |
B.
Leitch |
| Goaltending |
| QU:
Bud Fisher, 60:00, 23 saves, 0 GA |
| STL:
Alex Petizian, 58:09, 24 saves, 4 GA |
| Penalties:
QU 5/10; STL 10/23 |
| Power
Plays: QU 1-9; STL 0-4 |
Junior forward Ben Nelson netted a pair of
goals and sophomore goaltender Bud Fisher stopped all 23
shots he faced as Quinnipiac shut out regular-season champion
St. Lawrence, 4-0, in the first ECAC Hockey League semifinal
game at the Times Union Center in Albany Friday.
Quinnipiac improved to 21-13-5 overall with
the victory. St. Lawrence, which likely needs to beat Dartmouth
in Saturday's third-place game to remain in the hunt for
an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, fell to 22-13-2
with the loss
The Bobcats opened the scoring 5:10 into the
game on Nelson's first goal of the night. His original shot
from the high slot was blocked, but he corraled the rebound
between the circles and fired home a slap shot.
Quinnipiac extended its lead to two goals
at 6:52 of the second period with its lone power play goal
of the game. Sophomore forward David Marshall threaded a
cross-ice pass from the left-wing corner to senior defenseman
Reid Cashman, who was stationed at the right point. Cashman
one-touched a pass to freshman forward Brandon Wong (Victoria,
B.C.) just above the goal line, and Wong beat St. Lawrence
goalie Alex Petizian for his 27th goal of the season.
The Bobcats went up by three goals in the
closing minute of the second period.
Marshall took SLU senior defenseman Drew Bagnall head on
in a one-on-one rush.
Marshall's backhander was stopped, but the rebound caromed
in the air and off a St. Lawrence player before crossing
the goal line. It was Marshall's 17th goal of the year.
Quinnipiac closed the scoring with 4:05 remaining
in regulation when Leitch found
a streaking Nelson for his second goal of the game and his
17th of the season.
Fisher was stellar in recording his fourth
shutout of the season and sixth of his
career. It was also his third career shutout in the ECACHL
playoffs, which ties him
with David McKee of Cornell for the all-time record.
CLARKSON HOLDS OFF DARTMOUTH
| Clarkson
5, Dartmouth 4 |
| Team |
Goal |
Str |
| Time |
Assists |
| First
Period |
| 1-CLK |
Shawn
Weller (18) |
PP |
| 8:28 |
N.
Dodge, D. Cayer |
| Second
Period |
| 1-DC |
Rob
Pritchard (10) |
EV |
| 8:48 |
D.
Shribman, J. Grecu |
| 2-CLK |
Nick
Dodge (18) |
EV |
| 9:26 |
M.
Sullivan, G. Clitsome |
| 3-CLK |
Mike
Willemsen (1) |
EV |
| 15:59 |
D.
Tuttle, M. Kolu |
| Third
Period |
| 2-DC |
Grant
Lewis (1) |
EV |
| 3:38 |
K.
Swallow, B. Lovejoy |
| 4-CLK |
Chris
D'Alvise (15) |
EV |
| 5:05 |
S.
Guthrie, T. Marks |
| 3-DC |
T.J.
Galiardi (13) |
PP |
| 6:16 |
D.
Jones |
| 4-DC |
J.T.
Wyman (12) |
EV |
| 18:20 |
K.
Swallow, T.J. Galiardi |
| 5-CLK |
Steve
Zalewski (16) |
EV |
| 19:19 |
S.
Weller |
| Goaltending |
| DC:
Mike Devine, 59:18, 24 saves, 5 GA |
| CLG:
David Leggio, 60:00, 25 saves, 4 GA |
| Penalties:
DC 5/10; CLG 3/6 |
| Power
Plays: DC 1-3; CLG 1-5 |
| Attendance:
4,484 |
Junior forward Steve Zalewski's goal with
41 seconds left in regulation gave Clarkson a thrilling,
5-4 win over Dartmouth in Friday's second ECAC Hockey League
semifinal match at Times Union Center.
Zalewski took a pass off the boards from classmate
Shawn Weller and ripped a shot from the left wing that beat
Big Green goaltender Mike Devine over the shoulder for his
16th goal of the season.
Fifty-nine seconds before Zalewski's goal, Dartmouth had
tied the game at 4-4 when junior forward J.T. Wyman blasted
the puck past Clarkson netiminder David Leggio. The goal
capped a furious comeback for the Big Green, which had twice
trailed by two goals in the third period.
Weller opened the scoring 8:28 into the game with his 18th
goal of the season. With Dartmouth defenseman Ben Lovejoy
in the penalty box for hoooking, Weller took a pass at the
side of the net from junior David Cayer and knocked in his
own rebound for his ninth power-play marker of the year.
Dartmouth evened the score at 1-1 8:48 into the second period
on Rob Pritchard's 10th goal of the season, but the Knights
answered just 36 seconds later on Dodge's 18th goal of the
season. Clarkson would take a two-goal advantage into the
locker room during second intermission on the strength of
a goal by sophomore forward Mike Willemsen at 15:39, who
finished off a perfect feed in front from linemate Dan Tuttle.
The Big Green began their third-period rally
at 3:38 on defenseman Grant Lewis's first goal of the season.
Clarkson quickly regained its two-goal edge when Chris D'Alvise
scored 77 seconds after Lewis's tally made the score 3-1.
Dartmouth came right back at 6:16 with T.J. Galiardi’s
power-play goal, and then tied it 4-4 with J.T. Wyman scoring
at 18:20.
|
INCH's Three Stars of the Night
|
| 3.
T.J. Galiardi, Dartmouth
He scored the goal that reduced Clarkson's deficit
to one, and then assisted on the game-tying goal by
linemate J.T. Wyman.
2.
Steve Zalewski, Clarkson
His game-winning goal finished off a great play and
great game in downtown Albany.
1.
Bud Fisher, Quinnipiac
The sophomore goalie kept up his Friday night magic
in the ECACHL playoffs. In three Friday games, he
has allowed just one goal and has a .986 save percentage
and a 0.329 goals-against average. |
PLUSSES AND MINUSES
Kudos
to Dartmouth and Clarkson for playing one of the more exciting
games in the recent history of the ECACHL Championship weekend.
The back-and-forth affair featured a late Dartmouth rally
and J.T. Wyman's game-tying goal with 1:40 left in the third
period. Clarkson junior Steve Zalewski scored the game-winner
in the final minute of an exciting 5-4 contest
St.
Lawrence won the ECAC Hockey League's Turfer Athletic Award
for the second straight year. The award, voted on by league
coaches, is annually presented to a team for demonstrating
sportsmanship, commitment, tenacity, and innovation. The
Saints didn't display those ideals in the closing minutes
of Friday's semifinal loss to Quinnipiac. Brock McBride
took a roughing minor with 1:11 left and then, with the
Bobcats on the power play, freshman forward Mike McKenzie
took a five-minute slashing major with just 46 seconds left.
Winter
weather kept lots of fans away from downtown Albany, as
announced attendance for the games ranked just 4,400.
WHAT'S NEXT
St. Lawrence and Dartmouth meet in Saturday
evening's third-place game and the Saints can use an extra
victory to help their NCAA Tournament hopes – and
take advantage of one of the reasons that the third-place
game was added to the ECACHL Championship weekend.
Clarkson and Quinnipiac are playing for the
Whitelaw Cup. The Bobcats, in just their second year in
the league, have never won the trophy. Clarkson last won
the title in 1999. The Golden Knights' are securely in the
NCAA Tournament field, while Quinnipiac needs a win to not
only get the ECACHL trophy, but also to extend their season.
Information from the participating schools'
sports information departments was used in this report.