University of Connecticut Athletics
Final Day Of 16th Toyota UConn Classic To Commence
12/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
STORRS, Conn. (December 30, 2008) - After a day one with games full of exciting endings, the 16th Toyota UConn Classic will come to a close Tuesday with UConn battling Merrimack for a shot at third place in the first game of the day at 4:00 p.m. and Quinnipiac taking on No. 11 Air Force for a chance to win it all in the championship game at 7:15 p.m.
In the first game of the tournament Quinnipiac and Merrimack battled back and forth during regulation. Merrimack led the Bobcats 2-0 after the first period but a string of goals scored by both teams between 2:51 and 4:04 in the third helped the Bobcats to a 3-3 tie at the end of regulation. A Brandon Wong overtime goal pushed Quinnipiac into the championship game and helped them improve their record to 8-6-1 on the year. Merrimack fell to 4-9-3 on the year.
The second game of the night was also a battle as Air Force went up 2-0 early as well. But after a hooking call on Air Force's Greg Flynn, Pat McAuley took advantage of his penalty shot opportunity cutting the Falcons' lead in half and scoring the first penalty shot of the season for the Huskies, and the first penalty shot ever taken in UConn Classic Tournament history. Later, UConn would go on to tie the game up at two-all during the second period on a Dan Naurato goal and the score would stand for the remainder of the game as UConn tied No. 11 Air Force at the end of the overtime period.
The Falcons went on to win the shootout 2-1 sending them to the championship round where they would meet up with Quinnipiac. UConn moves on to the consolation round where they will face Merrimack. The Huskies are now 4-11-1 on the season, 3-5-1 in Atlantic Hockey play whereas the Falcons are 14-2-1, 11-1-1 Atlantic Hockey.
-UCONN-
