After a weekend split against Brown and No. 2 Yale, No. 4 Quinnipiac women’s hockey kicked off its spring semester well on Saturday with a smooth and efficient 4-0 victory over the Princeton Tigers.

The team’s second loss to Yale was a big missed opportunity for a Bobcats squad that has been quite successful otherwise, leaving this matchup as a crucial one to regain momentum. 

“I think it was an emotional week, just because Yale is such a big rivalry for us,” junior forward Olivia Mobley said. “We did play really hard in that game. We just couldn’t find the balance. It was just tough. I think this weekend, we want a fresh start.”

It took the game’s first five minutes for both sides to gain their footing. However, Quinnipiac eventually drew first blood at the 4:57 mark after a sharp wrister from junior defender Maddy Samoskevich zipped past Princeton’s first year netminder Taylor Hyland to make the score 1-0. 

Princeton’s offense, currently ranked in the bottom half of the country (No. 24), couldn’t get anything going in the first period against graduate student goaltender Logan Angers, with not a single shot coming close to the back of the net. 

Quinnipiac doubled its lead with three minutes left in the first frame after senior defender Kate Reilly exposed Princeton’s No. 18 scoring defense and snapped another shot past the left blocker of Hyland, making the score 2-0.  

Princeton’s offense had ample opportunity to get things going in the second period, receiving two power plays off back-to-back interference penalties from sophomore forward Maya Labad and Reilly at 3:03 and 5:50, respectively. 

To make those chances count however, the Tigers had to battle with Quinnipiac’s No. 1 ranked penalty kill (94.5%), which made the Princeton power play feel like even strength, killing both. 

“I think we do a nice job with our sticks, we do a nice job pressuring,” Quinnipiac head coach Cassandra Turner said. “For the most part, I think there’s a few pieces today that can be a lot better in terms of how we cover at our net. But overall, I think our team is pretty confident.”

Princeton got another power play opportunity later in the period, but like clockwork, the Bobcats killed it off, even getting some shorthanded scoring chances in the process. 

Besides the frequent Bobcat penalties, the rest of the second period found itself to be quite uneventful, with no major scoring opportunities appearing for either side.

Quinnipiac then used the third period to bury the Tigers. After a few minutes of back and forth, a Princeton penalty put the Bobcats on their first power play of the day, which they then converted with a goal from junior defender Kendall Cooper, making the score 3-0. 

While both sides were fairly even when it came to shots on goal (Quinnipiac led 27-20), it was never truly close, with the Bobcat defense keeping the Tigers from ever being a real threat to score. 

The game ended with a whimper as the Tigers allowed another power play goal in the final minute, this time to Mobley, as they limped and the Bobcats roared to a 4-0 final score. 

The shutout was Angers’ sixth this season, contributing to Quinnipiac’s nation-leading 11 shutouts as a team. 

“I think it’s a sense of urgency when you’re older,” Turner said. “She’s calm and composed. She trusts herself and her teammates. She’s had some games like when we played at Cornell, she certainly was tested, and was phenomenal. Same thing today, when we needed her she was there.”

The Bobcats will look to take the momentum of this victory into tomorrow, where they will rematch the Tigers, this time at Hobey Baker Rink, at 2 p.m. 

With the Bobcats having already clinched a spot in the ECAC Hockey playoffs, all that is left for the team to do is make sure they’re ready.

“I think we’re just ironing out details,” Samoskevich said. “We’re just dialing in on some of our specific plays in practice and we’re bringing a lot of energy to the table. Yeah, I’m getting excited. I want the whole thing.”