HAMDEN, Conn. — Michael Garteig made a career-high 37 saves to lead Quinnipiac past Union 3-1 in Game 3 of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals at High Point Solutions Arena on Sunday afternoon.
“[Garteig] was the best player on the ice tonight,” said Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold. “I thought he was outstanding and he saved us.”
Soren Jonzzon scored twice for the Bobcats, who advance to the ECAC semifinals with the victory.
Matthew Peca also added an empty-net goal and Landon Smith had two assists.
“I thought [Jonzzon] was excellent,” said Pecknold. “He’s been generating a lot of chances, but a little snake bit. He just needed a little confidence and he got that first one. That second goal was a rip. He’s a good hockey player and he’s blossomed for us this year as a junior.”
Matt Wilkins scored and Colin Stevens made 22 saves in the loss for the Dutchmen.
“[Garteig] played great tonight, but I thought our goaltender played great, too,” said Union coach Rick Bennett. “He made some big saves for us to keep us in there and he gave us some life.”
The Bobcats grabbed the lead late in the first period on Jonzzon’s sixth goal of the season. With just under a minute to play, Smith found Jonzzon positioned at the top of the right faceoff circle. Jonzzon then snapped a shot through a crowd of players, deflecting past the blocker side of Stevens.
Four minutes into the middle period, Jonzzon struck again to extend the Quinnipiac lead to 2-0. Smith picked up a loose puck in front of the Quinnipiac goal before skating into the neutral zone and passing the puck to Jonzzon who skated down the right wing side in the Union zone and beat Stevens under his right arm.
“It comes down to when we’re moving our feet and competing,” said Jonzzon. “Both goals we generated [Smith] won two puck battles and he was able to get the puck to me. It all comes down to us just reading off each other.”
Union cut the lead in half three minutes later. The Dutchmen caught the Bobcats out of position and quickly moved the puck around the offensive zone. Mike Vecchione moved the puck to Charlie Vasaturo at the right side of the blue line, where he one-timed a shot on goal. Garteig made the initial save before Wilkins jumped on the rebound and scored high past the blocker side of Garteig.
“As a staff all you can ask for is a team to work as hard as you possibly can and I thought we did that tonight,” said Bennett.
Union outshot Quinnipiac 11-3 in the third period, but could not get one past Garteig. Peca added the empty-netter in the final minute to close out the scoring.
“There’s no doubt that if [Garteig] didn’t play the way he did, that’s a completely different game,” said Jonzzon.
