By Peter Rossi, QBSN Staff Writer
The Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s ice hockey team hoped that securing home ice would allow them to make a deep run in the ECAC playoffs. The only problem was that it ran into a team who wanted redemption for losing that very same home ice opportunity in the Saint Lawrence University Saints. The Bobcats fell to the Saints, 2-0.
The teams let their exhaustion from the previous night show. Quinnipiac found itself with an early power play opportunity and despite Mel Desrochers serving the holding minor, the Bobcats could not get anything on the man-advantage.
After trading chances, it was St. Lawrence’s turn with the power-play with Anna Borgfeldt serving a bench minor for too many men. The Saints capitalized when defenseman Brooke Fernandez fired a shot from the point, which found the back of the net.
St. Lawrence struck again with a rebound shot coming off the stick of Kelly Sabatine. Riley Smith made the initial shot, which Vigilanti saved, and the rebound slid to Fernandez who fired it on net. Vigilanti made another save, but he second rebound found the stick of Kelly Sabatine, who put it home on the backhand to put the Saints up 2-0.
“We brought it to their attention that they just had to do the little things they have been great at for the past month and a half,” head coach Rick Seeley said. “I thought we controlled the game for the next two periods.”
Control they did, as St. Lawrence began the second period with 44 seconds remaining on a Kelly Babstock minor. The Bobcats killed off the penalty with no struggle.
After the kill, Quinnipiac almost got on the board when junior Erica Uden Johansson fired a low shot that hit the inside of the post. Babstock also had numerous short-handed chances due to her stellar play in the neutral zone, but could not net one behind Saints goalie Carmen MacDonald.
The third would prove to be the same story for the Bobcats, as they pushed back the St. Lawrence defense for most of the period, but were still met by the brilliant goaltending of MacDonald. Quinnipiac believed they cut the deficit to 2-1 off of a deflection from Babstock, but the play was reviewed and deemed no goal with just more than three minutes to play.
Seeley opted to pull Vigilanti in the final moments to try and salvage something to no avail. For seniors Brittany Lyons, Victoria Vigilanti, Regan Boulton, Felicia Vieweg, Breann Frykas, and Kristen Eklund, Seeley just had hoped for a better outcome to end their Quinnipiac careers.
After the game, the senior class came back out onto the ice in their gear to spend some time on the ice for one more time.
“It’s tough for it to end this way for the seniors, but that’s playoff hockey,” Seeley said.
Seeley especially had praise for Vigilanti, who has been the Bobcats center between the pipes for all of her four years.
“She has been the backbone for the past couple of months, and returned to freshman form, and gave us an opportunity to win every game. Hats off to her,” Seeley said.
The Saints will move on to the ECAC Semifinals in Ithaca, N.Y. where they will face the Cornell Big Red. St. Lawrence was 1-3 on the afternoon with the man advantage, while Quinnipiac was 0-3.
