Today at the People’s United Center, Quinnipiac (7-4, 1-4 ECAC Hockey) hosted St. Lawrence (1-3, 1-2 ECAC Hockey) for their annual Mental Awareness Game, otherwise known as “Do It For Daron” day.

The players and coaches both showed their support to mental health by wearing purple tape and special jersey patches. In addition, many donations were made to contribute to the cause of youth mental awareness.

“There has never been a more important moment,” head coach Cass Turner said. “We are taking steps and people are beginning to understand that it is OK to get help and support one another.”

After a moment of the silence, the Bobcats and Saints were ready to play their hearts out on the ice.

Eight minutes into the first period, defenseman Kate Reilly committed a penalty, which gave an immediate opportunity for St. Lawrence to attack.

During the power play, the Saints’ Skylar Podvey whipped the puck down the left side to set up forward Anna Segedifor the opening goal of the game.

However, Quinnipiac was quickly able to recover, as Taylor Girard sped past all the St. Lawrence defenders and successfully sent a shot into the top shelf of the net to tie the game at one a piece.

In Girard’s 100^th game of her career, she scored her fourth goal of the 2020-2021 season.

With only a few remaining minutes in the first period, St. Lawrence once again was able to find the back of the net.

Saints’ sophomore Julia Gosling obtained her first goal of the season by rebounding her own shot and ripping it right past goalie Logan Angers.

Even though Quinnipiac had 14 shots on goal and 21 shots in total, St. Lawrence remained on top to start the second period.

The second period was a different story, as defenses on both sides dominated throughout.

No goals were scored due to the 10 saves from Saints’ Lucy Morgan and seven more from Angers.

Quinnipiac seemed to be keeping pace with St. Lawrence, but everything they worked for fell apart in the third period.

St. Lawrence’s earlier goal scorers Gosling and Segedi each took advantage of the porous Quinnipiac defense to increase the Saints lead by three.

“We need to make our decisions faster,” Girard said. “It is on us to move a little bit quicker and then the goals will come from there.”

With time running out, it was time for freshman Catie Boudiette to step in for the struggling Angers. Nonetheless, it was too late for the Quinnipiac offense to start going and St. Lawrence took a game on the road.

“We are going to dive back into playing our game and stop worrying about how they play,” Turner said.

With the defeat, Quinnipiac’s record drops to 7-4. On the other side, St. Lawrence finally achieved their first win of the season and looks to continue their streak this weekend.

The Bobcats are determined to get back to their winning ways tomorrow against the Saints for the second game of the series. The action begins at 2 p.m. at the People’s United Center.