Resiliency characterizes a hockey team. No matter how good a team is, winning a game when facing a deficit makes the difference between a good team and a great team. 

Senior forward Wyatt Bongiovanni led the Quinnipiac comeback by netting two goals in the third period, beating Arizona State University 5-3. 

It was all Sun Devils early on as they tallied three goals in the first 22 minutes of the game. 

Beginning at 6:41 into the first period, redshirt senior forward Chris Grando flicked the puck over the left leg pad of Quinnipiac sophomore goaltender Yaniv Perets to give Arizona State a 1-0 lead. 

Perets has started lately over graduate student goaltender Dylan St. Cyr and for good reason. Going into tonight, Perets ranked top three in the nation in win percentage (.900), save percentage (.934) and goals against average (1.09) (GAA).

The Arizona State power play is second in the nation with a .391 power play percentage.It struck again 17:52 in the first period when graduate student forward Colin Theisen tipped a Jack Becker shot right past Perets to extend the Sun Devils lead to two. 

The onslaught of early-game goals ended 1:14 into the second period. Arizona State’s leading scorer, sophomore forward Matthew Kopperud, added goal number nine to give the Sun Devils a hat-trick advantage (3-0 lead) over the Bobcats. Kopperud’s score made him second in the nation in goals, asserting his authority over the Bobcats crowd afterwards by waving at them goodbye.

“I thought we were flat in the first period… we just thought it was gonna be easy but it wasn’t, we gotta grind out every win,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold said. 

However, the Bobcats were not at all ready to wave this game goodbye yet.

5:56 into the second period, Jayden Lee slipped a shot into the net right in front of Sun Devils sophomore goaltender Cole Brady. Senior forwards TJ Friedmann and Ethan De Jong assisted Lee on the play.

Around three minutes later, the struggling Quinnipiac power play came to life when sophomore forward Ty Smilanic tipped in a Bongiovanni shot just past the left leg pad of Brady to cut the Arizona State lead to one, with senior defenseman Zach Metsa also earning an assist. The power play has been something that the Bobcats have struggled with all year, so the conversion earned Quinnipiac momentum going forward. 

“We’re five really good players,” Bongiovanni said. “We have a lot of talent, if we have the confidence, (the goals) will come.” 

The third period was strictly the “Bo’” and “Smiles” show as Bongiovanni and Smilanic netted three goals in the third period.

Bongiovanni began the Bobcats comeback when 9:56 into the third period he skated between Arizona State’s red dots solo and sniped the puck top shelf to tie up a very exciting game for Quinnipiac.

He struck again when redshirt junior forward Guus Van Nes dished the puck to him on a silver platter and he finished back-handed through the five hole of Brady to give the Bobcats their first lead of the day, 4-3.

The People’s United Center erupted in cheers with both of Bongiovanni’s goals, influencing the game more than they realize.

“Obviously (after) a year like this, having fans made the win a lot easier,” Smilanic said. “They were with us the whole time… having our fans all the way there through sixty minutes is an awesome feeling.”

The scoring ended with just under a minute remaining when Smilanic deflected an Arizona State pass into an empty Sun Devils net extending the Quinnipiac lead to 5-3. Perets finished the game saving 18 straight Sun Devil shots, helping Quinnipiac complete its most impressive win of the season thus far. 

Quinnipiac played well in the second and third period, but going forward it hopes to keep that momentum throughout all 60 minutes. 

“Keep the pedal down… we just tried to reiterate that we have to keep the pressure on,” Bongiovanni said. 

Quinnipiac will look to keep the pedal down when they take on Arizona State again tomorrow Nov. 13 at the People’s United Center at 7 p.m.