The field goal was good in Hamden Friday night, as the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team opened its season with a 3-0 rout of the Maine Black Bears at M&T Bank Arena.
The Bobcats came into this season with high expectations, and they came out of the gates flying just as high. It took Quinnipiac all of 49 seconds into the first period to tally their first goal of the season, coming from graduate captain Sadie Peart.
Nina Steigauf and Tiana McIntyre tallied assists on the goal, marking each of their first points of the 2023-24 campaign.
By the halfway mark of the opening frame, the Bobcats were in complete control. Although the score remained just a one-goal difference, the shots were 5-0 in favor of Quinnipiac. Maine would finally register a shot on goal with just 7:09 remaining in the period.
The Quinnipiac-dominated first period continued to trend in that direction, as a penalty shot was awarded to senior defenseman Kendall Cooper, but her attempt sailed high and wide of the net, keeping the score at 1-0.
As the horn sounded on the first 20 minutes of play, the home team had more than just the crowd on their side. The Bobcats led in goals, shots and had a perfect penalty kill up to the conclusion of the first period.
The puck dropped on the second period of play in Hamden and the Black Bears, up to this point, only had one thing working for them – their goalie. Anna Larose stopped 10 of 11 shots in the first period, making some outstanding saves in the process to keep it only a one-goal game.
A team can only depend on their goaltender for so long, however. New Bobcat Julia Nearis, a graduate student who transferred from Boston University, got on the board just 2:18 into the second period, with the lone assist coming from the stick of fellow graduate student Kate Reilly.
The remainder of the middle frame was somewhat uneventful, aside from two Quinnipiac power plays, both of which were successfully killed off by the Black Bears.
Maine also gained some traction in the shots department, tallying eight in the middle 20 minutes of play.
In the third and final regulation period, it was more of the same. Despite a stronger push from the Black Bears than what Quinnipiac had seen all night, the Bobcats’ defense was still too strong for Maine to generate a high volume of opportunities.
In spite of Maine only registering six shots in the final period of play, a lot of those were quality chances. Fortunately for Quinnipiac, graduate goaltender Logan Angers was already in mid-season form, snuffing out every shot she faced, including numerous breakaways.
The Bobcats were able to seal the deal with an empty-net goal at the 19:34 mark, sending the Maine Black Bears into their locker room with a goose egg.
Bobcats’ head coach Cassandra Turner praised her team for their ability to fend off a Maine squad that she felt was tougher than what the scoreboard showed.
“Maine challenged us a lot, they kept fighting and battling,” Turner said. “I think that’s going to be good for us going into tomorrow, and I think it’s going to push us to play at our best.”
The Quinnipiac women’s hockey team will see a quick turnaround, as they are set to play the same Black Bears club Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in their first matinee matchup of the season at M&T Bank Arena.
