SCHENECTADY, NY – Quinnipiac freshman Brandon Wong netted a hat trick and the Bobcats scored six goals in the second period to power past Union College, 8-2, in the ECAC Hockey League opener for both teams at Messa Rink at Achilles Center Friday evening. Union falls to 2-3-2 on the season and 0-1-0 in ECACHL play, while Quinnipiac improves to 4-2-1 and 1-0-0 in the league.

 

Wong and David Marshall got things started with a pair of goals 41 seconds apart at the beginning of the second period. Wong followed with his second goal of the game as he knocked home a rebound from Dan Travis on the power play at 7:50 of the second period, sparking a flurry of four Quinnipiac goals in less five minutes. Greg Holt collected a pass in the slot from Eric Lampe to give the Bobcats a 4-0 lead.

 

After Union College rookie Rich Sillery (Hyattsville, MD) replaced starter Justin Mrazek (Regina, SASK) 8:51 into the period, the Bobcats tacked on two more goals before Union answered back. Ben Nelson scored with a one-timer from the top of the circle, followed by Jamie Bates, nailing a shot from the top of the circle on the power play, after receiving a pass from Reid Cashman at the blueline.

 

Union sophomore Chris Potts (Phillipsburg, NJ) put the Dutchmen on the board with less than a minute left in the period as he batted the puck in mid-air past Quinnipiac goaltender Bud Fisher's glove side. Senior Olivier Bouchard (Quebec City, QUE) had sent in a slapshot from the blueline that bounced off of Fisher, earning the assist.

 

The Bobcats netted two more goals in the third, first on a costly Union turnover at the blueline that was picked up by Wong, who notched the hat trick with a flip shot past Sillery's glove side. Holt followed with his second goal of the game with a one-timer from the slot.

 

Union sophomore T.J. Fox (Oswego, NY) scored his third goal of the season to close out the scoring at 18:00 of the third period, mailing in a pass from Lane Caffaro (Slave Lake, ALB) which beat replacement goaltender Zach Kleiman on his glove side, with help from a screen by junior Torren Delforte (Shortsville, NY).

 

Mrazek made 10 saves in just under 29 minutes of action, while Sillery stopped four shots in the third period. Fisher picked up his fourth win on the season with 21 saves, extending Quinnipiac's unbeaten streak to six games.

 

Union is back in action Saturday when the Dutchmen host Princeton for a 7 p.m. ECACHL game at Messa Rink.