On Friday night the No. 8 ranked Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team opened its 2024 schedule against No. 6 ranked Minnesota Duluth, coming through with a 2-1 victory.

The tightly contested battle marked the first game between the two programs since Nov. 29, 2019, where the Bobcats again were victorious by a final of 4-2.

“It’s fun, you know,” said Quinnipiac head coach Cass Turner. “There’s a lot of unknowns when you go to play them. Obviously we scout them and we prepare for them but I think for our team, it’s just a lot of fun to play a team that you don’t always play.”

The visiting team from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) hit the ice with intensity — playing with a physicality exemplified by a hit by Minnesota Duluth junior defender Brenn Fuhrman on Quinnipiac first-year forward Kahlen Lamarche 7:06 into the game.

“I think the physicality in the WCHA is probably a bit higher,” Turner said. “They let a little bit more go and I thought that was a little more similarly refereed to how it would be in the WCHA, which was nice for our team to get that experience because that’s probably how it’s gonna feel when you’re in the playoffs.”

Minnesota Duluth would strike first 11:51 into the opening period, as senior center Clara Van Weiren would nail home the one-time opportunity from senior right winger Olivia Wallin. 

Wallin set up the play by feeding Van Weiren the pass from behind the red line, where Quinnipiac fifth-year goaltender Logan Angers was unable to track the puck from where she sat against the goal post, unable to move to cover the point in time. Senior defender Paula Bergström would also be credited with an assist for Van Weiren’s ninth goal of the season.

“Once one (goal) goes in, I’m like ‘oh man, this sucks.’” Angers said. “Like, I don’t want this obviously to happen again and kind of just find that grit and battle through the rest of it so that I can help and keep our team in it.”

It’s safe to say Angers found that grit. After the game’s conclusions, Angers had stopped a total of 36 of the 37 shots she faced on net.

The Bulldog lead would not last heading into the first intermission. With one minute remaining in the first period, senior defender Kendall Cooper and the Bobcats would tie the game, with Cooper going top-shelf for her ninth goal of the season as well. Credited for assists on the goal were Nina Steigauf and Julia Nearis.

In the third period, Steigauf and Nearis would add their names to the score sheet again with the game-winning goal.

Steigauf, the senior right winger from Oakdale, Minnesota, found herself with a one-on-one opportunity with Minnesota Duluth’s goaltender, sophomore Hailey MacLeod, going across the crease for the go-ahead tally.

“(Nearis) made a great play on the boards and then I was coming up and I noticed that it was just me and the goalie,” Steigauf said. “I tend to like it when it’s just me and the goalie so I felt like I had a little extra time. I figured I had to get her moving and then the corner opened up.”

Steigauf not only contributed to the victory on the offensive end, but came through late as well on defense. With just under two minutes remaining in the game, Minnesota Duluth was looking to generate momentum with a possible breakaway. On the potential breakout pass, Steigauf dove at the Bobcats blue line to cut off the prospect of the Bulldogs having their own one-on-one chance against Angers.

“I saw the girl looking at the other girl, I knew I couldn’t get to her and (Cooper) had a great gap on that one girl, so I was like ‘crap this is my player.’” Steigauf said. “So in order to make up for my misjudgement of where she was I decided to dive and it worked out in my favor.”

Seeing the play unfold in front of her, without being able to read Steigauf’s mind in the moment, Angers talked about what she took away from the decision.

“I was concerned at first,” Angers said, laughing. “I mean a couple of times where someone just kind of comes out of nowhere and makes that extra effort and makes that extra play, that was a huge difference maker.”

For the Bobcats, their physicality showed in a different way, as the Quinnipiac skaters got in front and blocked 15 of 60 total Bulldog shots.

“People just lay their body out on the line just with two huge blocks at the end,” Angers said. “They trust me and I trust them to get the job done as well.”

After starting the new year with a victory over a top-10 opponent, the Bobcats will return to action when they face Minnesota Duluth again on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 3 p.m.