The No. 4 seeded Quinnipiac Bobcats offense led them to a 5-0 victory in game one of the ECAC quarterfinals over the No. 5 St. Lawrence Saints on Friday in Hamden.
“We were just attacking,” head coach Rick Seeley said. “We were transitioning pretty quick from battles in our zone. They were just attacking their net. that’s been our plan basically for the second half of the season.”
The Bobcats picked up the victory in a rematch of last years ECAC quarterfinals, scoring two more goals in game one than they did in the three game series last year.
Shiann Darkangelo continued her stellar first year with Quinnipiac, picking up her 21st and 22nd goal of the year and continued her stellar play on the first line with Kelly Babstock and Emma Woods.
“She’s really easy to read off of and she’ll get you the puck if you’re in the right spot,” Darkangelo said.
Chelsea Laden stopped all 28 shots she faced to pick up her eighth shutout of the season, putting her one shy of tying the program record for shutouts in a season.
“I felt really confident going into this game,” Laden said. “It helps when you get two quick goals in the first period. Kind of gives me a little more comfort. I’ve been really focused and playing okay I guess.”
Quinnipiac’s first goal came early in the first period after Babstock took a shot on Carmen MacDonald, which popped out to Darkangelo for an easy shot on an open net.
Babstock and Darkangelo connected for the Bobcats second goal about three minutes later. Babstock won a faceoff back to Darkangelo who fired one past MacDonald.
The Bobcats added their third goal late in the third when Amanda Colin centered a pass that got tipped to the far post by Cydney Roesler. Meghan Turner found the puck and poked it past MacDonald.
After Chelsea Laden made a right pad save on a Rylee Smith breakaway, Amanda Colin added another goal to put Quinnipaic up 4-0 midway through the third. The Bobcats’ captain pushed the puck past MacDonald in a scrum in front of the net.
Emma Woods iced the game late in the third for the Bobcats on a two-on-one with Morgan Fritz-Ward. The freshman fired a wrist shot past MacDonald’s blocker for their fifth goal.
The Bobcats will go for the series sweep tomorrow when the teams return to the ice tomorrow at 4 p.m.
“They know this outcome has absolutely nothing to do with the event tomorrow or Sunday,” Seeley said. “They’re all independent of each other. They know if they waste anytime feeling too good about this it’s going to bite them tomorrow. They’re right back to the focus they had tonight and they are getting ready for a big hockey game.”
