Brandon Wong Nets Overtime Goal To Give No. 9 Bobcats 5-4 Win Against No. 10 UMass

HAMDEN, Conn. - Senior assistant captain Brandon Wong (Victoria, B.C.) scored the game-tying and game-winning goals to lift Quinnipiac to a 5-4 overtime win against No. 10 Massachusetts in front of a sell-out crowd of 3,171 at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn. Quinnipiac's eighth consecutive win matches the Bobcats longest winning streak in their Division I history, accomplished during the 2005-06 and 1998-99 seasons. Quinnipiac improves to 12-1-0 overall while UMass drops to 9-3-0 on the season. The Bobcats' eight straight wins give them the longest active unbeaten streak in NCAA Division I hockey.

"Certainly, we are excited for an overtime win," Bobcats' Head Coach Rand Pecknold said. "We're always excited to play a Hockey East team, and with two teams - us and UMass - ranked in the top ten, there was a lot of hype surrounding this game. It was a great win for us, and an exciting game for our fans."

The game marked the second time this season, after Quinnipiac's 5-0 win against Robert Morris on Oct. 30, that the Bobcats line-up featured five players with multiple points. Aside from Wong's two-goal performance, Jean-Marc Beaudoin (St. Paul, Alb.) had a goal and two assists, Mike Atkinson (Sparta, N.J.) had a goal and assist while Eric Lampe (Madison, Wisc.) and Zach Hansen (White Bear Lake, Minn.) had two assists apiece. The win also gives Quinnipiac its third game of the season in which they had 10 players total a point. They previously accomplished the feat in the game against Robert Morris on Oct. 30 and in a 5-2 win against St. Lawrence on Nov. 7.

Quinnipiac jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the first period on goals by Beaudoin, Atkinson and Zurevinski. Beaudoin scored just three minutes into the game after banging home a rebound after a shot by Lampe. Lampe was set up on the play by Mike Dalhuisen (Nymegen, Holland) who was also credited with an assist. Atkinson's goal came with just under three minutes to play on assists to Brett Dickinson (Furlong, Pa.) and Yuri Bouharevich (Montreal, Que.). Bouharevich dug the puck out of the corner and passed it off to Dickinson. Dickinson then connected with Atkinson for the senior's sixth goal of the year, a personal best.

Massachusetts answered with four unanswered goals to take a 4-3 lead with under seven minutes to play in the game. Casey Wellman scored twice in the run, while James Marcou picked u pair of assists.

Wellman's first goal came off a rebound after a shot by Matt Irwin to make the score 3-1 just under two minutes into the second period. It proved to be the only goal of the second period as the Bobcats head into the second intermission with a 3-1 lead. Quinnipiac entered the game unbeaten in their previous 41 contests, 38-0-3, when leading after the second period. With the win against the Minutemen, Quinnipiac improves that record to 39-0-3 in 42 games when starting the final period with a lead.

The third period featured some excitement as UMass rattled off three goals, including two in a span of 11 seconds to tie the game. Will Ortiz scored at the 8:47 mark when he collected a shot off the pad of Quinnipiac goalie Dan Clarke (Belleville, Ont.) after Irwin took a shot from the right face-off circle. The puck dropped down in front the goal where Ortiz picked it up and banged it home. Wellman scored his second goal of the game 11 seconds later, off the draw. After Marcou won the face off, Wellman collected the puck and walked it into the Bobcats' zone where he blasted a shot from the point that beat Clarke to tie the game at 3-3.

Ortiz attacked the net five minutes later, but was stopped by Clarke who deflected Ortiz's attempt with his blocker. Michael Lecomte picked up the puck in the slot and lifted it over Clarke to give UMass a 4-3 lead.

The turning point of the game came with three minutes to play when a Minuteman defenseman was called for interference on a scrum behind the UMass goal. Playing with a man-advantage, Pecknold pulled Clarke to create a 6-on-4 scenario. Beaudoin carried the puck into the UMass zone and passed it out to the point to Zach Hansen (White Bear Lake, Minn.). Hansen spied Wong on the opposite post and blasted a shot through traffic where Wong was waiting to re-direct the shot and tie the game at 4-4 with 1:10 remaining in regulation. The Bobcats would stop a pair of Minutemen rushes before Atkinson's breakaway with the clock ticking down ended with the puck being knocked away.

It was Hansen again who quarterbacked the game-winning play, this time setting up Atkinson. Atkinson's shot was stopped by UMass goalie Paul Dainton and picked up by Wong in the slot. Wong lifted a shot over Dainton for the game-winning goal just 2:18 into the extra period.

The Bobcats resume their league play on Friday, Dec. 4 when they travel to New Haven, Conn. to take on Yale University in an ECAC Hockey match-up at Ingalls Rink at 7 p.m. They then travel to Providence, R.I. on Saturday, Dec. 5 to face Brown University at 7 p.m. at Meehan Auditorium.