Jacob Quillan’s goal 10 seconds into overtime lifted Quinnipiac to its first national title with a 3-2 win over Minnesota in the final of the NCAA men’s ice hockey tournament on Saturday in Tampa, Fla.
Cristophe Tellier and Collin Graf also scored and Sam Lipkin and Zach Metsa each added two assists for the second-seeded Bobcats (34-4-3), which took home the school’s first national championship in any sport.
John Mittelstadt and Jaxon Nelson scored for the top-seeded Golden Gophers (29-10-1), who were denied their first championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2002-2003.
Quinnipiac, which was playing in the final for the first time since losing to North Dakota in 2016, outshot Minnesota 30-15. Close made 27 saves for the Gophers, while Yaniv Perets made 13 for the Bobcats.
In overtime, the Bobcats won the faceoff and got the puck to Metsa, who found Lipkin cutting up the ice. Lipkin flicked a perfectly placed backhanded pass to Quillan, who one-timed it past Close from just a few feet away.
Trailing 2-1 with 3:28 left, the Bobcats pulled their goalie and the move worked, as Graff wristed a shot from the left wing between Close’s legs to tie the game with 2:47 to go.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead at the 5:35 mark of the first period, when Connor Kurth carried the puck around the back of the goal and slid it across the goal mouth, where Mittelstadt swatted it into the back of the net.
The Golden Gophers doubled their lead just 4:24 into the second period. Brock Fabers unleashed a shot from inside the blue line that sailed wide of the goal, but the shot caromed off the wall and right to Jaxon Nelson, who powered it past Perets.
The Bobcats cut the lead in half when Metsa flung a pass into the goal mouth, where Tellier scored from close range with 12:19 left in the second period.
–Field Level Media
