The Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team got back in the winning column Friday night at M&T Bank Arena, defeating the Dartmouth Big Green 3-2.
After a rough weekend in upstate New York left the Bobcats winless in two games, they were eager to get back home and try to rack up another win. Easier said than done, however, because Quinnipiac was down both forwards Emerson Jarvis and Jess Schryver.
The Bobcats, as they often do, started the game with their second forward line which consisted of Sadie Peart at center, flanked by Maya Labad and Kahlen Lamarche.
Quinnipiac had an early advantage in both time of possession and shots on goal, but couldn’t break Big Green netminder Eleanor Rogers. That was until junior defenseman Mia Lopata tallied her first career NCAA goal to put the Bobcats ahead by one, a milestone that she said she hadn’t even been thinking about.
“The more you think about it, the more it’s not going to happen,” Lopata said jokingly at the conclusion of Friday’s game. “It feels good that it happened.”
Despite the feel-good start to the game, there was still a lot of hockey yet to be played, and a slim one-goal lead that the Bobcats had to cling onto.
Each team was held scoreless for the remainder of the period, and Quinnipiac went into the locker room with a 1-0 lead at the horn. The Bobcats also led the shots on goal category with a commanding 15, opposed to Dartmouth’s four.
The puck dropped on the second period of play from Hamden, and the Big Green immediately were sent to the power play, as Kate Villeneuve was collared for slashing.
Entering the game, the Bobcats were an impressive 22-24 on their penalty kill, but they weren’t able to stop the Dartmouth power play, as Jenna Donohue tied the game a mere 1:55 into the middle frame.
The second period had barely begun, and the game was suddenly back to square one.
Neither team was able to generate much of an offensive push as the following minutes ticked by, but the Bobcats had a chance to change that when Maura Fiorenza was sent to the penalty box for hooking.
The Quinnipiac power play was clicking at just four goals in 25 attempts this season, but it was graduate student Sadie Peart who was able to break through this time around and regain the lead for the Bobcats.
Just under eight minutes into the second period, Quinnipiac led 2-1.
The Dartmouth Big Green are known, as are many ECAC clubs, for being relentless and lacking any quit. The Bobcats knew this and had planned for it, but with 56 seconds to play in the period, were unable to stop it.
This time it was junior defenseman Kenzie Bachelor scoring Dartmouth’s first even strength goal of the evening, knotting things up once again at two goals apiece.
At the end of the second period, Dartmouth still trailed mightily on the shot board, 24-10, but had crawled their way back where it mattered. The big board said tie game.
As the third period got underway from M&T Bank Arena, it was clear neither team was going to give an inch. This would soon become a gritty, scratch-and-claw fight to the finish line.
The final frame had the feel of a 20-minute overtime period as seen in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Defense and blocking shots were the first things on either teams’ mind. As the final minutes approached, it started to feel as though the next goal scored would be the game-winner.
And it was.
With just 2:55 remaining in regulation and now with Quinnipiac on the power play, senior defenseman Kendall Cooper found the back of the net for her third red light of the year, propelling the Bobcats to a late one-goal lead.
This would prove to be enough for the Bobcats to hang on and secure their first victory since Oct. 21 against Yale.
Bobcats’ head coach Cass Turner was impressed and spoke on her team’s resilience in Friday’s one-goal victory.
“That was a battle today, (Dartmouth) pushed us right until the very end,” Turner said. “(It was) a good win for us.”
The win over Dartmouth also marked Cass Turner’s 100th career ECAC victory.
“It’s huge for her and for our program, and for all the girls who have been here before us,” said Sadie Peart, when asked about Turner’s achievement. “Big congrats to Cass for that.”
Peart added, “I just ran into her and she had no idea (of her milestone), so I think that shows how she is as a person.”
The Quinnipiac women’s hockey team won’t have much time to celebrate, as they will face Harvard in a matinee matchup Saturday afternoon, once again at M&T Bank Arena, with a chance to snag their 10th win of the season.
