Last month, Quinnipiac University came back from a 2-0 deficit in the men's hockey national championship to defeat Minnesota 3-2 in overtime and win their first ever title. Today, we get to hear from the overtime hero, sophomore forward Jacob Quillan.
2aDays: So Jacob, it's April 8th 2023, you guys are facing Minnesota, with the chance to bring Quinnipiac its first ever championship. You're playing at Amalie Arena in front of over 19,000 fans. Can you talk to me about what's going through your mind, pre-game?
JQ: We were feeling confident, we came off a big win against Michigan. We had the same game plan, from Michigan to Minnesota. Minnesota's been a run-n-gun team, so we knew we had to play defense, lock them up, and find opportunities.
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2aDays: It's the second period, you guys are down 2-0. What's the team morale at this time? How were guys feeling?
JQ: I think we had all the momentum, honestly. We were out-shooting them, we were in their zone the whole time, they just got a few lucky bounces. Their second goal was actually my fault, I didn't get his stick in front. We just stuck to our game plan, got a quick one, and had all the momentum. We were confident we were going to come back.
2aDays: Now, the moment that changed the history of Quinnipiac's Men's Hockey team. 10 seconds into overtime, you fly down the ice on the left side and score a beautiful goal. Was this a designed play?
JQ: Yeah, so that play is called the jet. It's a play where you win the draw, and the center and winger interchange, the right winger is a decoy, and the d-man hits the winger in the middle, and then Sam Lipkin made a nice sauce play over to me. It was the first time we scored on it this year. It works most of the time we get possession in the zone, but that was the first time we scored a goal on it.
2aDays: What does it mean to score that winning goal, and talk to me about that awesome celebration at the end?
JQ: I was actually running through scenarios in my mind the day before. I was thinking if I scored that goal, what would I do? Teemu Selanne['s signature celebration] popped into my head, so I just ended up going with that. It was crazy in the big pile, it was pretty emotional.
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2aDays: You really took off this year, with 38 points in 41 games, compared to nine points in 36 last year. Anything in your game you changed after last year's season?
JQ: I stayed back at school during the summer to work with our strength coach. He helped me with my strength and speed and all of that, it was actually unbelievable, I got so much better. Last year, I wasn't playing as much and was on the fourth line, or scratched some games. [We had] a few players left, and I got to play with great players on the powerplay and all that, so credit to them too.
2aDays: You're a champion, you brought Quinnipiac its first ever men's ice hockey championship–what's your offseason plan?
JQ: I'm going to get surgery on my hip and then rehab it, and then hopefully be back in four months. Hopefully I'm not late on training in the season, but will look to pounce on the season.
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Image Credit: Quinnipiac Athletics
* Originally published on May 11, 2023, by Nicholas Nathanson
