The Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team continued their blistering start to the season at M&T Bank Arena on Saturday afternoon, knocking off their longtime-rival No. 5 Yale Bulldogs 6-3.
The Battle of Whitney Ave. has always produced memorable games over the years, and the newest chapter of this book was no exception. The Bobcats sent their second forward line out to start the game, but it was Quinnipiac’s first line of offense that really got the day started for the home team.
Just 1:20 into the opening period, first-line winger Emerson Jarvis wristed a shot from the faceoff circle that beat Yale goaltender Pia Dukaric, for what was Jarvis’ second goal as a Bobcat.
Already off to a fast start, the Bobcats were only getting started. A mere 28 seconds later, first-year forward Kahlen Lamarche netted her first career goal on just Quinnipiac’s second shot of the afternoon.
Each team started to settle in after the early pair of Quinnipiac red lights, as the game continued without any score changes for just under 10 minutes of play. That was until Montreal-native Maya Labad collected her third goal of the year on the power play, at 11:04 of the first period.
If the opening frame wasn’t already good enough for the Bobcats, Sadie Peart potted her fifth of the young 2023-24 campaign with just 4:58 remaining in the period, extending the Quinnipiac lead to 4-0 in under 16 minutes of play.
Breathing a sigh of relief were the Bulldogs as the first period came to a close, and they trailed the Bobcats by four goals, yet only found themselves behind on the shot board 11-10.
Quinnipiac found the back of the net four times on just 11 shots.
Coming back out for the second period and searching for answers, the Bulldogs found some. Over 9 minutes into the middle frame, sophomore-winger Carina DiAntonio put Yale on the board and injected some life into her squad.
As Yale continued to slowly regain some of the momentum, they were able to cut the Bobcats’ lead to two goals after a Jordan Ray shot found the back of Logan Angers’ cage, for her first tally of the season.
As the horn sounded on the second period of play in Hamden, the Yale Bulldogs went into the locker room feeling good. They cut their deficit in half, and took control on the shot board with 22, opposed to Quinnipiac’s 18.
The M&T Bank Arena seemingly stood still as the players took the ice for the third and final regulation period. The fans sensed that Yale was far from out of this one.
As the period got underway, neither team gave much of an inch. Quinnipiac was content with their four goals and just wanted to focus on the defensive side of the puck, while Yale knew as much they needed two goals, they couldn’t afford to surrender anymore.
It was a defensive tug of war for much of the final frame, until the Bulldogs finally broke through. First-year forward Stephanie Stainton, who laced up her skates for only her second career game Saturday, found herself with a point-blank opportunity on Quinnipiac’s Logan Angers, and made no mistake.
With 5:47 to go in regulation time, the Bulldogs had rallied to within one.
Now within striking distance, the Bulldogs best bet was to pull Dukaric, who had settled in nicely after a shaky first period, and get a sixth skater out there in an effort to tie the game.
After a few quality chances were turned aside by Angers, it was Emerson Jarvis who found the puck on her stick and slid it halfway down the ice, across the red line and into the net for her second and the Bobcats’ fifth goal of the game, thus seemingly solidifying another victory.
Even after the empty-netter, Yale only found themselves down by a pair, which meant out of the net came Dukaric once again, for one more last-ditch effort from the Bulldogs. Only this time, it was senior-forward Nina Steigauf who found the twine and recorded her sixth goal of the year with 19 seconds remaining.
The final horn sounded on the Bobcats’ eighth win of the season in as many tries, after fending off a late charge from the Bulldogs.
Bobcats’ head coach Cass Turner spoke post-game about her team’s quick start and ability to hold on throughout the rest of the afternoon.
“We started so strong and to see us shoot the puck so well early was pretty impressive,” Turner said. “Yale is a feisty, competitive team and they kept fighting… (but) we kept pushing back.”
Turner added, “(We) showed a lot of character in our group today.”
The Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team is off for five days before they hit the road for a weekend in upstate New York, facing off Friday and Saturday against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, respectively.
With a win Friday, the Bobcats would tie their start from last year with nine straight victories to open the season.
