On Friday evening, the Quinnipiac Bobcats defeated the Syracuse Orange by a final score of 4-0, taking the first game of the weekend series.
The Bobcats got the scoring started 12:13 into the game. As an earlier Orange tripping penalty was set to expire, first-year defender Aynsley D’Ottavio found some space off the boards and lurked in. She was able to find graduate defenseman Maddy Samoskevich at the back door, who redirected the puck into the net for a power-play goal, her fourth of the season.
A little more than five minutes later, the Bobcats doubled their lead. Senior forward Maya Labad took the puck off the boards and skated through the offensive zone before finding space in the slot and backhanding the puck five-hole for her fifth goal of the season.
Less than a minute following the Labad goal, junior forward Tessa Holk was able to find a loose puck and danced through the Orange defense before dishing it off to senior forward Laurence Frenette, who made no mistake. Despite the Orange challenging for offsides, the goal stood, giving the home team a 3-0 lead.
“I’m more encouraged to use all my offensive abilities here,” Frenette said. “I feel like that’s been helping my game a lot.”
The Frenette goal concluded a stretch that saw the Bobcats score three goals in five minutes and 15 seconds. Quinnipiac dominated Syracuse in this span, outshooting them 18-1.
“I really liked the line combinations that we had today. I think it put similar players together,” said head coach Cass Turner. “It was great to see ‘Lo score that one on the backside. I think her line had a ton of energy today and created a lot and got some momentum going for a group.
The second period was a lot more even paced as both teams created chances throughout the frame, forcing both goalies to be on their toes.
The Bobcats, however, were able to make the most of their opportunities. With two minutes remaining on the clock, they were able to cash in for their fourth goal of the night.
Junior defenseman Zoe Uens took the puck in on a three-on-one odd-man rush and buried it into the upper corner for her first of the campaign.
This was the third goal on the night that came inside of the final five minutes of a period.
“We always talk about, last three minutes of the period, first three minutes of the period, kind of three shift mentality,” said Uens. “It’s a big momentum shift. And then we come into the locker room and we’re focused on the next three minutes of the period.”
The Bobcats took this 4-0 lead into the third period.
The third period brought nothing more to the scoreboard as both teams were able to buckle down defensively and keep the chances at a minimum.
First-year netminder Felicia Frank made her second career start and made seven saves en route to her second shutout. Graduate goalie Allie Kelley made 41 saves across the ice for the Orange.
The Bobcats will look to complete the weekend series sweep of the Orange on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Hamden.
