Scoring a goal with 25 seconds left in overtime, the Clarkson Golden Knights defeated the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Saturday afternoon in Hamden. 

“Definitely tough to lose another one in overtime,” Quinnipiac head coach Cassandra Turner said post-game. “There’s so many positives that we can take from this weekend. There’s so many good things and we are going to keep working to get better and be ready to attack these next two ECAC games.”

With two top-ten opponents set to square off, the game inevitably started with a fast tempo even though it would take a while for both teams to generate quality scoring chances. Zoe Uens and Jess Schyver forced early turnovers at center ice but were unable to turn possession into a shot on goal for Quinnipiac. 

With Quinnipiac starting to gain momentum, Clarkson defender Haley Winn made one of Clarkson’s eight blocked shots in the first period at an important time. 

Clarkson then started to test Quinnipiac graduate student goalie Logan Angers, who was one of 11 players being celebrated on senior night today. 

“She’s an outstanding goaltender,” said Turner on her goaltender’s performance. “She’s been so solid for us and good in big moments. It was nice to see that again today.”

Clarkson’s best chance of the first period came off the stick of Winn when she got control of the puck just outside the Quinnipiac defensive zone. Winn carried the puck up the left side of the ice before cutting towards the center of the ice at the top of the faceoff circle. Winn was faced with a wide-open shooting lane, but could not find the top corner as her shot drifted wide left and the first period ended scoreless. 

The second period began with a Quinnipiac penalty as Maddy Samoskevich went to the box for hooking three minutes in.

The power play featured a save by Angers, a blocked shot with her lower leg from Quinnipiac captain Sadie Peart and a successful penalty kill for the Bobcats.

With Clarkson continuing to mount pressure, Uens took a hooking penalty just over seven minutes into the period. This time the Golden Knights took advantage of the power play, off a goal from Winn.  

The Coldstream, British Columbia native Anne Cherkowski dropped the puck from the left side of the ice back to Winn, who was between the two face-off circles. Winn’s powerful wrist shot went upper right and gave Clarkson a 1-0 lead.

Just after the halfway mark of the period, Quinnipiac found the tying goal. Peart possessed the puck on the right point before sending a cross-ice pass to Kahlen Lamarche. While she did not make perfect contact with the puck, Lamarche’s shot slid on the ice past Clarkson goalie Michelle Pasiechnyk and the Bobcats tied the game. 

“She’s a clutch goal scorer and playmaker,” Turner said of the first year’s performance this season. “She wants the big moments. She’s intense on the bench and has grown a lot this year, so it’s great to see her be in that thirty-point range as a first-year. We haven’t had that in a while.”

The second period also ended how it began, in a tie.

The most significant event of the third period came when Kiera Hurry went to the box for Clarkson. Alexa Hoskin, Julia Nearis, Schyver, and Samoskevich all had chances to score on the power play, but Pasuechnyk stood strong in the net.A few seconds later, Jaden Bogden committed a roughing penalty, giving the Bobcats five on three advantage for 30 seconds. Kate Reilly had multiple shots on the ensuing power play time with one being blocked by right winger Cherkowski and another being a blocker save by Pasiechnyk. The Bobcats failed to score.

With 20 seconds remaining in the game, Madison Chandler took a penalty for the Bobcats. The game was heading to overtime and the Bobcats would start it short-handed. 

The Bobcats killed the power play to start overtime thanks to multiple saves by Angers, but with 25 seconds left, the Golden Knights had a goal.

Senior Nicole Gosling took a shot from the center of the Bobcats defensive zone. The shot took a deflection in front of Angers and trickled in the lower right corner past the onlooking Quinnipiac defense. The goal secured a 2-1 victory for Clarkson.

“For us, we believe. We just need to get some better stands and be more consistent in the second period and that’s going to help us quite a bit,” said Turner on her team’s chances with the playoffs nearing. 

The Bobcats will hit the road to close out their regular season next weekend when they travel to face RPI on Friday and Union on Saturday.