By: Taylor Massey, QBSN Staff Writer
The women’s ice hockey team took to the ice again Saturday night, coming off a 4-1 triumph over ECAC opponent RPI on Friday. It hosted the Dutchwomen of Union College in another conference match-up. The Bobcats earned another 4-1 victory, topping Union.
“I think it’s the first weekend of the year where we showed up for the beginning, worked hard for 120 minutes and just put two real solid back-to-back games together,” head coach Rick Seeley said of the sweep.
Quinnipiac jumped to the lead with its first goal of the game coming just under two minutes into play. Nicole Brown (Oshawa, Ontario) planted herself in the right place outside the crease to catch the rebound off Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario). Before Union goalie Shenae Lundberg could react, Brown hit the back of the net.
The Dutchwomen evened the score 11 minutes later on a power play goal. Bobcat goalie Victoria Vigilanti (Woodbridge, Ontario) was still down after blocking a shot when Christine Valente collected the rebound and fired a close-range shot for Union’s first goal.
However, the Dutchwomen had not seen the last of the Bobcats in the first period.
Captain Regan Boulton (Brandon, Manitoba) capitalized on the Bobcat’s first power play opportunity to give them the lead once again. Nicole Kosta (Mississauga, Ontario) picked up the assist and the period ended, 2-1, in favor of Quinnipiac.
The second period proved to be an uneventful one, as the score remained the same at the close of the period.
Despite not scoring, the Bobcats continued to turn on the pressure and more than doubled their shots on goal. Babstock looked close to extending the lead, but her shot rang off the post and back into play.
Just as the game seemed to be winding down, the Bobcats brought energy back to the game, this time off the stick of Shelby Wignall (Hamilton, Ontartio). Wignall skated down the center and sent a shot that managed to sneak under Lundberg.
Wignall’s goal was her first of the year and only the second of her career.
Quinnipiac wasn’t done yet. Two minutes left in the game Morgan Fritz-Ward (Mason City, Iowa) tacked on another security goal with the help of Brown and Nicole Connery (Newmarket, Ontario). Her power play goal was the second of the game and brought the final score to 4-1.
Overall seven different Bobcats scored to help sweep the weekend. This variety of scoring players is exactly what the Bobcats needed.
“You get in the habit when you have people as talented as Babstock and Kosta of just relying on them too much,” Seeley said. “So to have the winning goal scored by [Brittany] Lyons and a great assist from [Amanda] Colin last night and Morgan [Fritz-Ward] with a phenomenal shot on her power play goal, we need it.”
Vigilanti also had a repeat performance in net, only letting by one goal out of 16 Union shots.
The Bobcats improve to 6-3-1 in the ECAC and 10-7-2 overall. The loss drops Union to 0-4-2 in conference and 3-8-2 overall.
Next weekend, Quinnipiac will play in a home-and-home series against ECAC rival Princeton. Princeton will host on Friday night and the Bobcats will return home to host Princeton on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 5 p.m.
