Although it was a better result than last season’s devastating overtime loss, the Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s ice hockey team still couldn’t finish the job against the Dartmouth Big Green. This time, Quinnipiac tied against Dartmouth by a score of 1-1. 

The Bobcats doubled the Big Green in shots 34-17, but that didn’t matter to the scoreboard.

“You’ve got to give credit to Dartmouth tonight,” Quinnipiac head coach Cass Turner said. “They were prepared to put pressure on our feet and make us uncomfortable, and I think they have a lineup that can get scary when they create chances.”

Even though the Big Green did a good job of limiting Quinnipiac throughout the game, that didn’t happen in the early minutes. The Bobcats dominated the first period and got a power play goal 10 minutes in from freshman forward Alexa Hoskin. 

Hoskin had her first shot denied by the foot of Dartmouth freshman goaltender Hannah Humphreys, however took advantage of the rebound and buried the puck into the top shelf for the opening goal. The Bobcats finished with 14 shots in the period, and the Big Green finished with just four.

Dartmouth clearly made adjustments to its intensity in the second period. They came out with a much more aggressive style of play, testing Quinnipiac senior goaltender Abbie Ives much more. Ives still bailed out the Bobcats a couple times early in the period. 

The attack eventually became too much as Ives conceded an absolutely beautiful goal to Dartmouth senior defenseman Bailee Brekke. Brekke got the pass off the faceoff and put the puck short side in the top shelf, and Ives did not have much of a chance. 

“We just need to play better,” Ives said. “I think we’re a little emotional right now and in the past stretch of games we’ve let our emotions get the best of us. We need to execute better and keep each other up.”

The second period ended with the Bobcats only outshooting the Big Green 8-7, which led to a much more even third period. The game was at a deadlock and it seemed like each team got the better of the other in the first two periods, so the majority of people in the Frank Perotti Jr. Arena were expecting an even third period.

They did not get it.

Even though there was no scoring for either team, it was clear Quinnipiac did everything to win the game, expect put the puck in the back of the net. The Bobcats outshot the Big Green 10-3 on ice that might as well have been tilted, and even got two power play opportunities in the final ten minutes of the period. 

The Bobcats received a power play with over 11 minutes gone in the third period and nearly capitalized. Hoskin almost scored another goal to take the lead, but it trickled on the goal line and did not get past Humphreys. The Bobcats did not take advantage of a power play granted with 1:49 remaining in regulation either, which led to a scoreless overtime and the tie.

“We need way more consistency,” Turner said. “Even though we played well again in the third, we took risks at the wrong time and we need to grow and mature a bit to make the right plays at the right moment for our team.”

The Big Green outshot the Bobcats 3-2 in the overtime period. Despite that though, Quinnipiac had a final chance with 8.5 seconds left and called a timeout to game plan for the final play.

When asked about the plan for the final play, Turner had a rather simple response.

“Put the puck on Kate Reilly’s stick.” 

The Bobcats did so, and Reilly fired off a hard shot that was saved by Humphreys and led to one more faceoff that the Bobcats were stopped on as well. 

Following the 1-1 deadlock to Dartmouth, Quinnipiac has a quick turnaround. The Bobcats play host to the Harvard Crimson on Saturday, Nov. 9 at the People’s United Center in Hamden, looking to pick up their first conference win.