After scoring at least two goals in each of their first six wins of the season, the Quinnipiac women’s hockey team needed just one goal from senior forward Nina Steigauf to claim their first conference victory against Brown University.
With the win, the Bobcats move to 1-0 in ECAC play and 7-0 overall.
“It’s always amazing to get your first ECAC win,” head coach Cass Turner said.
From the start of play in the first period, the Bobcats showed that they were hungry to extend their winning streak vs. Brown to a third game.
Quinnipiac enjoyed lots of success in the faceoff circle, winning 32 of 57 draws. Graduate forward and team captain Sadie Peart led the way, winning 15 faceoffs, a game-high for either team.
“Winning battles is what the game’s all about,” Turner said. “I do think we could’ve been even better today in some of our battles, but it’s something that we’ll keep working on.”
Bobcats goaltender Logan Angers shined in between the pipes today as she stopped all 18 shots that came her way. Angers recorded her seventh win of the young season, as well as her second shutout.
“They didn’t get too many opportunities,” Angers said. “We kind of kept them to the outside, and that really helped us.”
One could argue that Angers is having her best start to a season as a Bobcat. She’s posting an impressive 0.85 goals against average as well as a .963 save percentage.
On the other hand, Brown’s senior goaltender, Kaley Doyle, was single-handedly keeping her team in the game, recording 43 saves on 44 shots. She was named the third star of the game, even in a game where her team fell short.
“Their goaltender played outstanding,” Turner remarked.
The Bobcats set a new season-high with 44 shots on goal, which ultimately helped propel them to the win. Quinnipiac’s previous high this season was 39 shots on goal vs. New Hampshire.
“I was excited about how many scoring chances we generated,” Turner said. “There were a ton of good ones.”
Turner urged her team to keep putting shots on net even as Doyle continued to turn Quinnipiac scoring chances away.
“Stick to the gameplan,” Turner told her team in between periods. “It was working. The last thing we wanted to have happen was for us to grip our sticks tight around the net.”
Steigauf took her coach’s words to heart, scoring her fifth goal of the season off of a cross-crease from Julia Nearis with six minutes into the final period.
“It’s always cool getting the game-winning goal,” Steigauf said. “Obviously this isn’t an individual sport, it’s a team sport. That play wouldn’t have happened if my line wouldn’t have been there…We build off of each other’s shifts.”
Steigauf also shared some praise for Nearis, who recorded her third assist of the season.
“It’s fun having a person that can get you the puck,” Steigauf explained. “She’s so offensively talented and it’s awesome playing with her.”
The Bobcats are back in action Saturday afternoon, as they take on the Yale Bulldogs at 3:00 p.m. in the ‘Battle of Whitney Ave.’
“Yale’s always a fun game,” Steigauf said. “It’ll be interesting to see how things go.”
