David Jankowski scored three minutes and 38 seconds into overtime to lift the St. Lawrence University men's hockey team to a 3-2 win over top-seeded Quinnipiac in the ECAC Hockey championship game on Saturday afternoon, giving the Saints their first league title in 20 years.

With the win, the Saints earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The bracket will be announced on Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

"We've got great leadership," said Charles W. Appleton II Head Men's Hockey Coach Brent Brekke, now in his second season on the bench for St. Lawrence. "They play hard for each other. They care for one another. It's just as important for the guy next to him (to have success) as it is to have their own success, and that's how you win championships."



Luc Salem started the scoring play on the overtime goal for the Saints, chopping at a loose puck at center ice and sending it towards the Quinnipiac blue line. Jankowski picked it up, skated up the left side, then cut towards the center of the ice and fired a wrist shot from the slot into the top left corner of the net.

"We were getting near the end of a shift there in the offensive zone, we were having some good looks and a lot of possession time," said Jankowski, who was named the tournament's MVP. "The puck came to me on the half-wall and our coaching staff talked a lot about cutting to the middle and trying to get something on net and that's what I tried to do. I tried to pick a spot, and I fell down, I think. I didn't really see it go in."

After the puck went into the net, Jankowski was immediately mobbed by his teammates, who left their helmets, gloves and sticks scattered all over the ice in the midst of the celebration. It was a familiar scene for St. Lawrence hockey fans, as the No. 3 seeded Saints beat No. 4 seed Colgate 5-4 in overtime at Appleton Arena on Thursday night to advance to the championship game.

"I thought our guys were just resilient all the way through," said Brekke. "That's the term we've used all year long with this group. They're comfortable in one-goal games, they're comfortable being ahead, comfortable being behind, and I think that helped us going into the overtime."

Kaden Pickering gave the Saints a 1-0 lead just over three minutes into the game, laying out to sweep a rebound off a shot by Philip Alftberg past Quinnipiac goaltender Keith Petruzzelli. It was the 11th time in 17 games that the Saints scored first this season. Jankowski picked up the secondary assist on the play.

St. Lawrence stifled the potent Quinnipiac offense for the entire first period, allowing just four shots on goal to head to the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.

Quinnipiac, however, responded with a strong second period, taking a 2-1 lead on goals by Odeen Tufto and Wyatt Bongiovanni in a span of just 12 seconds eight minutes into the period.

Tutfo tied the game with a shot from a sharp angle that hit St. Lawrence goaltender Emil Zetterquist's leg pad and tickled over the goal line just inside the far post. 

Bongiovanni took a pass from Skyler Brind'Amour and fired a wrist shot from the slot into the top right corner to give Quinnipiac the lead at the 8:07 mark of the second period.

After Quinnipiac outshot the Saints 14-8 in the second period, the Saints had a much more effective third period, generating several scoring chances and holding a 11-6 advantage on shots on goal. Justin Paul tied the game with 3:38 remaining in the third period, putting away a rebound after Salem had pinched in from the point and sent a blast from the top of the left circle on goal. Jake Stevens also picked up an assist on the play.

Zetterquist made 24 saves in the win for the Saints (6-8-3), while Petruzzelli stoped 25 shots for Quinnipiac (17-7-4).

The league title is the Saints' seventh and first since 2001, while the NCAA Tournament bid is the program's 17th and first since 2007.