Instead of candles, the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team lit up the rink for Valentine’s Day.  They jumped out to an early lead over the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers and earned a much-needed 7-1 win.

The Friday night victory saw them break a tie with Yale to give them sole possession of fifth place in the ECAC with one game left to go before the conference tournament commences.

Headlining the Bobcat’s stellar performance was first-year forward Bryn Prier. The Juno Beach native is just one of three Floridians in the ECAC, but the brunt of the February weather was no match for her. Prier notched her first career hat-trick in just a 2-minute, 47-second span during the third period. 

The first two of Prier’s goals were separated by just ten seconds. After the game, head coach Cassandra Turner was more than shocked by the lightning-quick scoring.

“It’s funny because [assistant coach Amanda Alessi] and I were talking about something on the bench and we literally missed both goals, they came in that quickly,” Turner said, “I literally closed my eyes and she scored two.”

For Prier, it is career goals five, six and seven. While also being the first time she has had a multi-goal game, let alone a hat trick. The first on the night came after poking the puck out of the possession of the Engineers, and then outskating them into an isolation with goalkeeper Reese Keating. The second and third were off the heels of passes from linemate, sophomore forward Kahlen Lamarche that gave her wide-open shots she was able to capitalize on.

After her breakout game, Prier had nothing but praise for her teammate. “I think the big thing with me and [Lamarche] is that we make eyes while out on the ice,” the first year said, “When I look up and I see her, I can just tell what she is doing.”

Quinnipiac’s first two goals were from graduate student Jenna Donahue, a forward who spent her prior four seasons at Dartmouth.  Coincidentally, Donahue’s only other game with a pair of goals also came against RPI in October 2023. 

Lamarche and junior forward Emerson Jarvis each added a goal of their own.

Despite the offensive outburst from the Bobcats, it was their defense that most impressed Turner. 

“It was nice to see some of the offense we generated today, but I thought we defended even harder, which was great,” Turner said

The Engineers had earned five power plays throughout the game, two of which combined in the third period for a five-on-three in favor of the visitors. Despite that, they did not take advantage of the Bobcat penalty box minutes because of the scrappy defense from Turner’s team.

A Senior Day win tomorrow against Union, along with a Clarkson loss to Dartmouth would mean Quinnipiac would finish in fourth place, earning a first-round bye in the ECAC Tournament