Union, Quinnipiac Hook Up For Longest College Hockey Game Ever

Not even two weeks ago, history was made in Hamden, Conn., where the RPI and Quinnipiac women's hockey teams played the longest game ever in NCAA hockey -- men's or women's. Their marathon was the deciding third game of an ECAC quarterfinal series. It went into the fifth overtime before RPI won at the 4:32 mark, meaning the teams played 144 minutes and 32 seconds.

It beat the men's record of 141 minutes, 35 seconds, which was set back in 2006, as Yale beat Union (N.Y.) in the ECAC men's quarterfinals. The Flying Dutchmen were back in the record book Friday night, as Union hosted Quinnipiac in the first game of an ECAC quarterfinal series.

The game Friday in Schenectady, N.Y., started off innocently enough, as the hosts scored two quick goals. Little did Dutchmen fans know that would be it for their offense.

For a very long time.

Quinnipiac answered with goals in the first and second to tie the score 2-2, and there would be no scoring for five full periods of hockey. The teams slugged their way through four overtimes with nothing going on the board, and history was made early in the fifth overtime, when the game's length officially passed the old men's record, and eventually the women's mark that had been set 12 days earlier.

At 10:22 of the fifth overtime, 150 minutes and 22 seconds after the game started, Quinnipiac senior forward Greg Holt buried a shot after walking out front from the left corner of the Union zone.

His tenth goal of the year gave the Bobcats a 3-2 win, and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series that continues at 7 P.M. Eastern Saturday. The third game would be Sunday night, if necessary.

Quinnipiac goalie Dan Clarke set an ECAC playoff record with 73 saves, including 48 during the overtimes. Union's Keith Kinkaid countered with 52 saves in a losing effort.

Logic says the deeper team has an advantage, but it's hard to even say that. The two teams played two full-length hockey games, plus half of a third, in one night. For Union coach Nate Leaman and Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold, Saturday is a day for an optional skate -- if you would even try an "optional" one -- and a lot of rest for your athletes. This isn't a time for head games or big-time adjustments. Don't overburden your kids, and instead try to have them as rested and relaxed as possible for the second game of the series.