On Friday at 6 p.m., the Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s ice hockey team (10-16-4, 7-9-2 ECAC Hockey) will look to keep their ECAC Hockey playoff hopes intact as they will host the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers (12-13-5, 9-8-1 ECAC Hockey) at Frank Perrotti, Jr. Arena.
The Quinnipiac Bobcats have only a two-point cushion on the Yale Bulldogs in the ECAC Hockey Standings for the final spot in the playoffs. With the Frozen Four hosted by Quinnipiac, there will be some extra motivation for the Bobcats. For RPI, the team is in sixth place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a one-point lead over the Harvard Crimson. The team will look to increase its point to total to get a possible bye in the playoffs.
Players to Watch
Quinnipiac- Melissa Samoskevich
Senior forward Melissa Samoskevich has to make an impact in this game to get the win for Quinnipiac. She has to use her leadership to lead a young Bobcats team to the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Samoskevich is currently the team’s leader in goals, nine, and points with 17. She needs to keep up that production and more to lead this team to two more points. In games that the Bobcats won, Samoskevich has five total goals. She has to bring that number up for a win on Friday.
RPI- Lovisa Selander
The senior goaltender needs to be a leader as well for the Engineers in order for the team to keep their hold on sixth place, as well as possibly move up in the standings. Last time Selander was the goaltender against the Bobcats, she had a shutout with 41 saves. She needs to do that again in order to get a win.
Keys to The Game
Quinnipiac- One Game at A Time
If the Bobcats are to win this game, they cannot look to the future of their playoff seeding. The team controls its own destiny. Last time the Bobcats played the Engineers, the Bobcats lost 1-0 in a tight game. They need their offense to pick up in this game and help junior goaltender Abbie Ives. Ives has 600 saves on the season with a .920 save percentage. The offense need to help Ives out and score efficiently in order to come away with the win.
RPI- Force Bobcat Mistakes
If the Engineers are to win this game, they have to get into the Bobcats’ head and force errors on defense and turnovers on offense. They cannot afford to give the Bobcats power play chances and easy fast break opportunities. The Bobcats have a 13.9 percent power play percentage, so the Engineers have to be controlled and not be penalized. If they do not allow easy chances and have good puck movement to disrupt the Bobcat defense, they have a great shot at winning on Friday.
The Game
Make sure to tune in to QBSN’s live broadcast of Quinnipiac vs. RPI from the Frank Perrotti Jr. Arena in Hamden, Connecticut. Connor Ullathorne and Jon Surratt will be on the call of the game. For live updates throughout the game, make sure to follow @QBSN on Twitter.
