The Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team (17-4-6, 8-3-4 ECAC) overcame a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Dartmouth Big Green (7-14-1, 6-9-1 ECAC) 3-1, behind two third period goals on Friday night.
The Bobcats were in control from the opening faceoff, putting 12 shots on net to Dartmouth’s five in the first period. Quinnipiac also had a power play with just more than five minutes into the first period, but could only muster up one shot on the man advantage.
After a scoreless first period, Dartmouth defenseman Emma Korbs got the scoring started at the High Point Solutions Arena. The freshman from Toronto, Ontario received the puck just in front of the blue line. She took a shot at goal, and fired high into the net to give the Big Green a 1-0 lead 11:58 into the second period. Quinnipiac goaltender Chelsea Laden went low for the save, but guessed wrong as Korbs netted her first career goal in a Dartmouth uniform.
With just less than 45 seconds left in the second period, junior wing Shiann Darkangelo provided the Bobcats with a two-on-one breakaway by feeding Kelly Babstock the puck down the left side of the ice. Babstock fired a pass to freshman Emma Woods, who slotted the puck home to tie the game 1-1 heading into the third period.
“We felt pretty confident,” Quinnipiac head coach Rick Seeley said. “It was just a matter of time and it was great to get it before the third, but it definitely gave us a boost going in. For the most part we controlled the game, so I think everyone just had that confident feeling.”
The Bobcats came out of the second intermission with extreme intensity. Center Nicole Connery had a one-on-one with Dartmouth goaltender Lindsay Holdcroft, but the senior from Pittsburgh stymied Connery and the Bobcats. About a minute later, the Bobcats found themselves in a two-on-one situation, and this time executed perfectly. Senior forward Olivia Brackett fired a shot on goal, Holdcroft made the save, but Morgan Frtiz-Ward put in the rebound for herseventh goal of the season. Fritz-Ward’s goal gave Quinnipiac its first lead in two weeks.
“I saw [Olivia] Brackett breaking for the net,” said Fritz-Ward, a junior from Mason City, Iowa. “She shot for the rebound, and fortunately I was in the right spot at the right time to bang it home.”
Connery then added to the scoring list late in thethird after freshman Meghan Turner forechecked a Dartmouth defender, took the puck right behind the Dartmouth net and centered it in front of the net to Connery. The sophomore sniped a hard wrister past Holdcroft to extend the Bobcat lead to 3-1 which sealed the win.
Aside from the lone Dartmouth goal, Chelsea Laden was flawless, picking up her 15th win of the season on a 15-save night.
“She was solid,” said Seeley, who picked up his 100th career win at Quinnipiac. “She had a couple of rough starts the last few weeks. She was just screened on that play and we needed the forward to block the shot. In the future I think you’ll see her standing on her feet.”
With the win the Bobcats snap a two-game skid without a victory, after tying and then losing to then-ranked No. 8 Robert Morris two weekends ago. Quinnipiac picked up its eighth ECAC victory and 17th overall.
“Despite our record our team at times has confidence issues,” Seeley said. “It was just about believing in themselves and continuing to work hard. I thought it was one of our best overall efforts in terms of back pressure and back checking. For us it was just to keep doing the little things and good things will happen.”
Fritz-Ward agreed with Seeley.
“Once we got that second goal, we took it to them, and didn’t stop,” she added.
The victory propels the Bobcats into Saturday’s highly touted showdown with Harvard at High Point Solutions Arena, where Quinnipiac looks to start a new winning streak against ranked opponents.
“For us, this was the important game of the weekend,” Seeley said. “Harvard is great, and you get to play a top-5 team, that’s why we play. They aren’t scoring a lot, so we know it will be a real close battle. If we play like we did tonight, anything can happen.”
Faceoff for Saturday’s top-10 matchup is set for 4 p.m. in Hamden.
