Quinnipiac junior Kellen Jones scored twice while goalie Eric Hartzell tied the program's Division I single-season wins record as the nationally-ranked No. 2 Bobcats defeated Colgate, 3-2, at Starr Rink.
The win clinches a bye in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament as the Bobcats' NCAA-leading undefeated streak is extended to 21 games (18-0-3). Quinnipiac also remains undefeated in ECAC Hockey play at 14-0-2. Colgate goes to 13-11-3 overall and 5-8-3 in league play.
Jones' multiple-goal game is the fourth of his career and his first since he scored twice against Brown on Feb. 24, 2012. Freshman Soren Jonzzon scored his first career goal midway through the second period to give Quinnipiac a one-goal lead. Hartzell improved to 21-2-4 on the year with the 17-save win, tying him with J.C. Wells for the most wins in a single season in program history.
Connor Jones and Zack Currie set-up Kellen's first goal while and Matthew Peca picked up an assist on his second. Peca now owns a team-best eight-game point streak. Kevin Bui and Cory Hibbeler assisted on Jonzzon's first career tally.
With less than six minutes to play in the first period, Currie stopped a loose puck in the neutral zone and chipped it up-ice to Connor Jones. Connor and twin brother Kellen skated two-on-one before Connor dropped a pass back to Kellen. Kellen, receiving the puck in the slot, stepped around a Colgate defenseman and blasted a shot to the top corner over the right shoulder of Colgate goalie Spencer Finney. Quinnipiac jumped out to a 1-0 lead which they held onto through the first period.
With 11:51 to play in the second period, Colgate senior Robbie Bourdon broke up an attempted clear in the Bobcats' defensive zone, picking up the puck in the slot. Bourdon threw a back-handed shot on goal, through traffic, that beat Hartzell to tie the game at 1-1.
Jonzzon's first career goal came with just under four minutes to play in the second period to give Quinnipiac a 2-1 lead. Bui dug the puck out of the corner to the left of Colgate's Finney, spun and wired a pass to Hibbeler. Hibbeler then passed across the crease to Jonzzon in the slot, who one-timed the puck into a virtually empty net to give Quinnipiac a one-goal lead.
Early in the third period, Kellen scored his second goal of the game when Peca handled the puck in the right face-off circle fed a pass to Kellen streaking behind him. Jones slid the puck between Finney's pads to give Quinnipiac a two-goal lead.
Colgate answered at the 12:41 mark when a Quinnipiac turnover in their own zone resulted in a goal by Tylor Spink as the Raids moved to within a goal, 3-2. His twin brother, Tyson Spink, picked off the pass and moved the puck across the Bobcats' defensive zone to Tylor who beat Hartzell for the goal. Quinnipiac held off a late push by the Raiders to preserve the win.
Quinnipiac returns home next weekend to host St. Lawrence on Friday, Feb. 15 and Clarkson on Saturday, Feb. 16 at High Point Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center. Both games are set for a 7 p.m. start.
