A single shot, the first shot from St. Lawrence’s offense in it’s matchup against Quinnipiac proved to be the single-most important part of the game on Saturday. This instance came less than five minutes into the game when the puck landed perfectly on Saints forward Brooke Webster’s stick in the slot, leading to a goal the Bobcats couldn’t come back from.
With a goal five minutes into the game, the No. 7 St. Lawrence Saints (9-0-1, 4-0-0 ECAC) continued its undefeated streak in a 1-0 win against No. 5 Quinnipiac (7-4-1, 2-2-0 ECAC) on the Bobcats home ice.
St. Lawrence’s first line proved why it’s accumulated 19 of teams 31 goals this season, with Webster tallying a goal on the team’s first shot of the game early in the first period past the blocker side of Sydney Rossman. This goal was the first the Bobcats had allowed in the first period since the season began.
Going into this game, the Bobcats had not been able to come back after allowing the first goal, going 0-4 in each of those games. This statistic proved to hold true against St. Lawrence as well.
After Webster’s goal, the Bobcats tried to infiltrate St. Lawrence’s defense throughout the second period, taking more shots within the first four minutes of the second than it had in the entire first period. One opportunity came after Saints defenseman Alex Moore slipped on the ice, giving Quinnipiac a two-on-one opportunity and Kenzie Lancaster three attempts to get her team the equalizer. Even with the added pressure in the second period, these 11 shots in the second weren’t enough for the Bobcats.
Despite not finding the back of the net, Quinnipiac head coach Cassandra Turner said this offensive explosion in the second showed more of what her team is able to do, especially with five freshman taking spots on the starting lineup this year.
“I think our team, that’s who we can be and I think they know that,” Turner said. “We’re a young group this year, we have a lot of people in new roles and I think you saw that emotion and energy and a glimpse of what we’re capable of.”
Quinnipiac’s leading goal scorer T.T. Cianfarano said her team provided enough chances, but in the end these chances weren’t enough.
“I just think, I mean obviously we had a better game than yesterday, our chances today were obviously getting pucks into the goalies feet but we just couldn’t capitalize,”Cianfarano said. “I think we just gotta focus more on this week, coming out during practice getting shots and rebounds. I think we’re just letting them sit there a little bit.”
After allowing three goals last night against Clarkson, all eyes were on Sydney Rossman in net to see how she’d bounce back. After St. Lawrence’s first shot of the game, Rossman stopped all 15 shots she faced, and said this game was one she needed to come out more confident.
“Obviously yesterday wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to go,” Rossman said. “But I had to get over it pretty quickly and come back because I knew if I was still thinking about it I wasn’t going give my team a chance to win.”
For the first time this season, neither team was called for a penalty, leading both teams to rely on five-on-five hockey to push its team to score. The Bobcats led the Saints in shots throughout all three periods outshooting them 20 to 16 throughout the three periods, but couldn’t get one past St. Lawrence net minder Grace Harrison.
Turner said this lack of whistles came from the referees’ knowledge of how strong these two competitors were on the ice.
“I thought it was pretty interesting that there were no penalties today,” Turner said. “I think they understood this was a really, two of the better teams in our conference and understood the implications of the game and I thought they did a really good job today.”
The Bobcats will hit the road next weekend to take on Dartmouth and Harvard in conference play. Despite the loss, Turner said this was a step up from the team’s defeat last night by Clarkson.
“We worked a lot harder today, the effort in a lot of different places that we really focused in on was there, more team plays today,” Turner said. “So there are certainly a lot of positives out of today’s game.”
