The Battle of Whitney Avenue rivalry continued Friday in the Frank Perrotti Jr. Arena. This time around, the Bobcats won in dominant fashion as they swept the Bulldogs off the ice, 4-1, clinching home ice in the ECAC quarterfinals.

The first period was full of action. Just over five minutes into the game, Quinnipiac forward Renee Saltness scored a goal that was deflected, bounced up in the air, and had a safe landing in the back of the net. 

Yale answered relatively quickly though, as just 3:36 later first year Anna Bargman scored a goal that tied the game 1-1. 

The first period scoring did not end there. With four minutes to go, Bobcats sophomore Kendall Cooper scored an outstanding goal. She took a shot at an incredibly difficult angle, from a long way out, and ended up finding the back of the net. The shot was so difficult that the result even surprised Cooper.

“Honestly I was kind of shocked it went in myself,” Cooper said. “I really thought it was going to miss the net. I just kind of shot it hoping for the best, and it went in, so it was a nice feeling for sure.”

Despite having less shots on goal than Yale in the first period, the Bobcats held a 2-1 lead over the Bulldogs.

18 minutes into the second period, the Bobcats scored once again. It was teamwork at its finest, as Cooper and Nina Steigauf skated around Yale’s defense and eventually assisted Jess Schryver to make the score 3-1. 

Quinnipiac head coach Cass Turner cited her team’s defensive efforts as a large contributor to the victory. 

“They had that great two-on-one where they had (Corinne Schroeder) beat and they just missed the net,” Turner said. “And I think that’s because we made so many great defensive plays as we were moving through the game. And, you know, you get those lucky moments because you work for them.”

Yale rattled off 19 shots in that second period, but they could not score a single goal. Quinnipiac did, however, on just 10 shots. 

The scoring did not stop there either for Quinnipiac. After Yale pulled goalie Gianna Meloni to attempt a comeback, sophomore forward Olivia Mobley scored an empty net goal. This sealed the deal for the Bobcats and made for a final score of 4-1. Turner was very excited about clinching home ice. 

“It’s fun to play here,” Turner said. “It’s huge to finish in the top four. You end up with a better seed and a better opportunity to continue on to the ECAC final four tournament.” 

There is just one game left in the Bobcats’ regular season before the ECAC tournament commences. Quinnipiac will face off against Brown on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. in Hamden.