After back-to-back games over the weekend vs. Dartmouth and Harvard, the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team made the quick turnaround on Wednesday and earned a record-breaking 12-1 win against Post University.
“I was really happy with our effort and our consistency to the game today,” said Quinnipiac assistant coach Amanda Alessi.
The evening matchup was a game of firsts for the Bobcats with sophomore goaltender Tatum Blacker getting her first career start in the net. Additionally, three Quinnipiac players also scored their first goals of the season.
“[Tatum] played well, battled hard and you know our team loves her,” said Alessi. “She works super hard and every day is someone that brings so much energy and compete to our group and everybody was really excited for her.”
Blacker finished her first career start with 11 saves, a .917 save percentage and only allowed one goal from the Eagles.
“It was obviously a little nerve-wracking to play my first game,” said Blacker. “Nerves are always there but our team makes it easy, both on the ice but also knowing that y’all got my back.”
The Bobcats came in ready to play as the first goal was just a little over two minutes into the game. Captain Kate Reilly took the game by the wheel and kicked things off with her first goal of the season. Reilly traveled down the left side of the ice and hit the puck up into the right side of the net to give Quinnipiac a 1-0 lead.
WHOK: Kate Reilly scores her first goal ever for the Bobcats, after ripping a shot into the top right corner of the net. Quinnipiac takes an early lead 1-0, only 2:09 into the first period.
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“Yeah it’s great, I think the fun part is seeing their teammates’ reaction,” said Alessi. “When those situations arise it makes them feel like that hard work is definitely paying off.”
Veronica Bac saw Reilly get her first goal and decided that she wanted a turn. Bac scored her first goal of the season after an assist from Nina Steigauf and Maddy Samoskevich to make it a 2-0 game.
To cap off the first period, Kahlen Lamarche hit the pick-up over the goaltender and into the middle of the net after an assist from Madison Chantler and Reilly to make it a 3-0 game for the Bobcats.
The start of the second period set off a Quinnipiac scoring frenzy. Sadie Peart passed the puck across the ice over to Maya Labad and she whipped it in to make it a 4-0 game.
The Bobcats then showed off their passing skills with a pass from Steigauf down the middle of the ice over to Kendall Cooper who made the short pass to Bac for her second goal of the game.
After a penalty was called on Dani Ammons for tripping, Julia Nearis made a power play goal and was assisted by Cooper and Zoe Uens to give the Bobcats a 6-0 lead.
Labad and Nearis both decided to double dip and scored their second goal of the game with less than a minute between them to make it an 8-0 game.
The Bobcats were not done yet as they entered the third period. Peart hit the puck up into the top right of the net after an assist from Lamarche and Labad to make it a 9-0 game.
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Sadie Peart, ECAC Hockey Forward of the Week puts one in for the Bobcats. Quinnipiac now leads 9-0, less than five minutes into the third. Myah Labad and Kahlen Lamarche are credited with the assists.
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Then Mallory Mauracher put the Bobcats in double digits with her first goal of the season after getting the rebound off of Grace Glasrud to put it in the net.
The Eagles did get one goal on the board in the third period. Rylee Patfield pushed the puck past Blacker after an assist from Jet Devlin and Julia Wysocki.
Quinnipiac would add another goal with the help of Reilly. Reilly’s shot got deflected through the traffic and Steigauf tipped the puck past the goaltender to extend the Bobcats lead.
“It was fun, they were good shots,” said Reilly. “We’ve been working on our net presence and the fact that she’s [Steigauf] in front of the net and willing to get hit if I hit her with a one timer is huge.”
Alessi pointed to the bucket of goals scored to the team’s overall culture.
“The way that we play, sticking to our identity and culture, our style of play today is what’s going to prepare us to win really important games down the stretch,” Alessi said.
With their win on Wednesday night, the Bobcats improved to an overall record of 11-2. They will be back in action for an ECAC matchup against Colgate on Nov. 17.
