By Kevin Noonan, QBSN Staff Writer

The Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team (11-7-2, 7-3-1 ECAC) faces off with the Princeton Tigers (4-9-2, 2-7-2 ECAC) in a home and home series to finish off the first half of the season before a month long break.

The Bobcats picked up a 3-2 victory over the Tigers Friday night at Hobey Baker Rink.  Quinnipiac scored three goals early to take a 3-0 lead, forcing Princeton to try and claw its way back, but falling short with only converting on two opportunities.

Senior Brittany Lyons (Canton, Mass.) scored her nation-leading seventh power-play goal, while junior Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario) knocked home her team-leading 19th goal and freshman Nicole Connery (Newmarket, Ontario) added the third goal of the game.  Kelly Cooke and Brianna Leahy scored the two Tigers goals, but it wasn’t enough to over come senior Victoria Vigilanti (Woodbridge, Ontario).  Vigilanti and 17 saves on 19 shots, while her counterpart Kimberly Newell had 22 saves on 25 shots.

Keys to the Game

Quinnipiac

• Play Bobcat Hockey: Princeton struggles against teams in the upper half of the ECAC standings.  They have lopsided losses against Harvard, Cornell and St. Lawrence, all teams that Quinnipiac has played well against.  If the Bobcats can play the way they do against top teams, then they’ll be set.
• Power-Play: The Bobcats have scored eight more power-play goals than the Tigers, and Quinnipiac can secure a victory by getting the Tigers in the penalty box more.  With junior Erica Uden Johansson anchoring the right flank, the Bobcats are deadly on the power-play.
• Goaltending: Vigilanti had the best weekend of her senior season against RPI and Union by only allowing two goals in 32 shots.  Head coach Rick Seeley has stuck with his senior for all but one game in conference play, and another solid weekend should keep the Bobcats trending up in the standings.

Princeton

• Offense: The offense has struggled this season for the Tigers, only averaging 2.4 goals per game and 23 shots per game.  Princeton will need to navigate past the improving defense of the Bobcats to get at least one win in the weekend.
• Goaltending: Kimberly Newell has struggled in her first season in goal, with a 3.22 GAA and just a .906 save percentage.  Last weekend she had a shutout one night and gave up four the next, so consistency will be key for Newell against the Bobcats.
•   Kelly Cooke: Cooke has been one of the top offensive players for the Tigers throughout the entire season.  In 14 games, she has scored nine goals to lead Princeton.  She has 12 points on the season, only trailing Corey Stearns who has 17.  Cooke will look to lead the Tiger offense heading into the High Point Solutions Arena this weekend.