Quinnipiac Host Alumni and Defeat 1st Place Holy Cross

January 17, 2004

Courtesy of Quinnipiac Sports Information Department

After dropping behind by a goal in the opening period, the Quinnipiac University men's ice hockey team scored four unanswered goals in the 4-1 victory over Atlantic Hockey leader Holy Cross on Saturday night at the Northford Ice Pavilion.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Bobcats, who creeped closer to the .500 mark at 8-9-2 overall. Quinnipiac is also 5-2-2 in league play. Holy Cross dropped to 13-6-2, 12-2-2.

The Crusaders opened the scoring by making good on their second power play opportunity of the night. James Sixsmith banged home a centering pass from in the slot at 12:53 of the first period. Jeff Dams and J.R. Walker assisted on the goal.

Quinnipiac answered with a power play marker of its own at 9:10 of the second period. John Kelly grabbed a dump-in deep along the left wing boards and fired two shots at Crusaders goalie Tony Quesada. The first bid was denied, but the second found the back of the net. Craig Falite and Reid Cashman assisted on the marker.

The Bobcats went ahead for good 2:20 later. Quinnipiac caught Holy Cross in the offensive end and broke out on a 3-on-1 rush. Mark Hallam flipped the puck from the right wing boards to Ryan Morton, who slid a pass over the Joe Dumais. The Bobcats winger knocked the puck over Quesada on a quick one-timer for the eventual game-winning goal.

Quinnipiac scored twice in the third period to put the game out of reach. Ryan Morton knocked in the rebound of a Bill Cass shot at 6:49 for a 3-1 advantage. Chris White was credited with the second assist on the tally.

Then, at the 12:56 mark, White buried a rebound into an empty cage to provide the margin of victory. Morton and Falite assisted on the score.

Bobcats goalie Jamie Holden made 36 stops in the win to improve to 6-4-2 on the year.

For Morton, the three points were a season-high.

Quinnipiac is back in action on Friday night for the front end of a home-and-home weekend series with Army. Friday's game is at West Point.