Jan. 13, 2007
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Brandon Wong and Mike Atkinson each had two goals as the Quinnipiac men's hockey team raced past Yale 6-2 in an ECACHL contest before 3,486 at Ingalls Rink.
Wong, the top scoring rookie in the conference, showed everyone why with a three-point night to move the first-place Bobcats (11-5-4, 8-2-3 ECACHL) further ahead of the field.
Yale (8-7-2, 5-5-0), which suffered its first defeat in four games, couldn't generate enough grade-A scoring chances on Quinnipiac netminder Bud Fisher, who finished with 22 saves.
Bulldog goalie Alec Richards (20 Saves) was victimized by turnovers on a night that just wasn't going his way. However, Michael Karwoski did provide support at the other end with a pair of goals. Yale's top scoring duo of Sean Backman and Mark Arcobello were held to just five shots on net between them.
Karwoski, who had been a healthy scratch the last three games, responded to an early shift with his second goal of the year. Matthew Thomey had the puck behind the net and sent a perfect feed to the low slot where Karwoski was ready to bang it home between Fisher's legs at 2:19 for the 1-0 Yale lead.
Quinnipiac got the equalizer nearly three minutes later by cashing in on a powerplay. The Bobcats moved the puck across the point before Greg Holt fired a shot that deflected away from the Bulldog goalie. The puck went directly to Brandon Wong (15 goals), who swiftly one-timed it past Richards at 5:09.
Atkinson's first collegiate goal gave the visitors a 2-1 lead and came just 43 seconds after the game had been tied. The freshman winger fired a shot on goal that Richards saved, but the rebound came out to the side and Atkinson grabbed it and quickly fired the puck out front. Instead of going out to a teammate, the puck hit Richards and bounced behind him into the back of the net at 5:52.
"It started just the way we wanted, but a marginal call resulted in a power-play goal. Then they got an opportunistic goal and it's 2-1," said Keith Allain '80, Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey. "They [Quinnipiac] showed a lot of poise on the powerplay and moved the puck pretty well."
The lead became 3-1 early in the second period after a great move by winger David Marshall (11th). The Bobcat winger took a feed from Chris Myers and came in with one defender on him. Marshall used the Bulldog to screen Richards and snapped a shot from the slot that went low on the glove side at 5:56
Wong notched his second of the night after a mixup in the Yale defensive end. The puck bounced between a Bulldog blueliner and the Cat center. Wong won the battle and got his stick on it first, swiping it from the low slot into the net at 11:17 for the 4-1 lead.
Quinnipiac's second man-advantage tally of the night came with 1:16 left in the second and made it 5-1. Wong sent a pretty feed across the low slot that caught Richards on the other side. Jean-Marc Beaudoin (4th) was the recipient of the great pass and had a wide opening to aim for.
The Bobcats outshot the Blue 10-3 in the second period and were impressive with their forechecking and shooting ability.
Yale got a little steam from Karwoski's second goal of the night 31 seconds into the third on a nifty move just outside the top of the crease. But the wind came out of Yale's sail 90 seconds later when Atkinson (2nd) took advantage of a passive play by Richards to make the score 6-2. The puck bounced way ahead of the Bobcat winger and Richards could have gotten to it first to knock it away but stayed in the crease and got burned.
"When we faced adversity tonight, instead of playing as a team we were too individualistic," said Allain.
The Bulldogs are back in action next weekend at Cornell and Colgate.
Report filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director
