The Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team was on a hot streak getting at least a point in five consecutive games heading into Saturday afternoon’s matchup with the No. 4 Cornell Big Red. The Bobcats couldn’t keep their streak going as they dropped a 4-1 decision to Cornell at the People’s United Center, the first home loss for the Bobcats since Nov. 9.

“I think our expectations for consistency throughout the game were higher and I think we played really well,” said head coach Cassandra Turner following the loss. “I think it’s exciting honestly because in our locker room right now I know that the plays that resulted in goals are the ones we can control. I think for our team we’re still pretty young and I think we’ll keep growing and for them to learn this consistency that’s really important for our season.”

Cornell outshot the Bobcats 29-19 during the game and dominated the face-off circle winning 34 of 56 face-offs in the game. Quinnipiac went 0-for-2 on the power play while Cornell was 0-for-1

Sarah-Eve Coutu-Godbout scored the lone goal of the night for the Bobcats for her ninth goal of the season which was assisted by Zoe Boyd and Sadie Peart and senior goaltender Abbie Ives came up with 25 saves for Quinnipiac.

Cornell scored twice in the third period to put the game away with goals by Kristin O’Neill and Gillis Frechette. Paige Lewis and Finley Frechette also scored for the Big Red while Lindsay Browning made 18 saves.

The story of the game was Quinnipiac’s offensive inconsistency. Despite opening up the game with seven consecutive shots, the Bobcats couldn’t solve Browning right away and fell in a 2-0 hole in the second period before getting on the scoreboard.

“We certainly needed to get up early,” said Turner. “To beat a good team we needed to capitalize on those opportunities early.”

The Bobcats finally got on the board before the end of the second period. Setting up shop in the offensive zone, Peart made a great pass across the point to Boyd who fired a shot that deflected off of Coutu-Godbout and into the back of the goal to give the Bobcats momentum going into the third period

But despite coming out swinging to begin the final frame, the Bobcats couldn’t find the back of the net and had trouble entering the offensive zone. Cornell’s defense kept the Bobcats offense contained and capitalized in the offensive zone with two goals in the 3rd to ice the contest

“We had waves when we were looking to attack but they kept pushing back. That’s a good team,” said Turner.

The Bobcats will enjoy the holiday break with a month off before opening 2020 by traveling across the Atlantic and playing a two-game series with the Merrimack Warriors in Belfast, Ireland starting on Jan. 4. The puck drops in Belfast between the Bobcats and Warriors at 10 a.m. ET.

Turner said about the upcoming break, “Our team loves to work and get better. I’m excited for this break because I do think we’ll get better and we’ll be able to zero in on a few things and improve our skills so it’s gonna be a good break for us.”