The No. 11 Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team defeated the No. 5 Clarkson Golden Knights 3-0 at the M&T Bank Arena on Friday night.
This game was a shooting frenzy with a combined 63 shots on goal, but great goaltending and defense kept the game close. The Bobcats came into the contest off a loss to Brown and a tie at Yale last weekend, while Clarkson had been swept in a weekend series at Boston College.
Clarkson started off hot, with an early rush at the Quinnipiac net, but graduate goaltender Kaley Doyle was there with her glove, making an early statement for the Bobcats.
Not to be out done, Golden Knights junior goaltender Julia Minotti made two great saves on chances by Bobcat graduate forward Jenna Donohue. The Bobcats would out-shoot Clarkson 11-8 in the first period, but the game would be scoreless going into the first intermission
“I don’t think we’ve played a team yet that goes to the net the way that they do,” said Quinnipiac head coach Cassandra Turner. “Doyle made a couple of huge saves in that first ten minutes to keep us in it… I think we adjusted and got better defensively as the game went on.”
The second period started with more of the same, with both teams moving the puck up the ice with precision, but both goaltenders keeping their teams in the game.
The scoreless tie would be broken 9:44 into the period when graduate forward Kathryn Stockdale knocked a pass from graduate forward Sophie Urban into the net for her third goal of the season. Urban had her second assist of the season and first-year forward Taylor Brueske got her first.
“I saw my two linemates go hard behind the net and they had a great forecheck,” said Stockdale, “I was just staying open in front of the net hoping they could pop it up to me… If it wasn’t for their hard work down low that wouldn’t have happened.”
The Bobcats got more chances on a power play later in the period but were unable to finish any shots, along with a nice glove dave by Julia Minotti in net. She finished with 30 saves by the end of the game.
Clarkson came out hot in the third period putting shots on the Quinnipiac goal, but Doyle standing on her head prevented any shots getting past. She finished with 33 saves.
“She’s confident, she’s poised in the net… She’s knows what to expect and she’s ready to go,” Turner said.
“She had an insane save literally a minute into the game. And for me, I was like ‘she’s got us, let’s go,” said graduate defender Kendall Cooper, “I think it gives her confidence when she’s in the zone, and just overall {it gives the] team confidence.”
The Bobcats would seal the game with empty net goals, one scored by junior forward Tessa Holk with an assist by Cooper, who went on to score the third. These two points would give her the program record for career points by a defenseman, passing Kate Reilly who set the record last year.
“Kendall is a phenomenal player, she’s so talented… I’m sure she has a ton more assists if you’re able to count the third assist because she make a lot of plays that progress the play forward,” said Turner, “She’s really growing and getting better every single game and that says a lot to what she wants to accomplish with this team.”
The Bobcats will be back on York Hill tomorrow for another ranked matchup when they take on the Saint Lawrence Saints at 3 p.m.
