Behind a record breaking four goals from senior forward Kelly Babstock, the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team grabbed its first win of the season Friday night at the Highpoint Solutions Arena at the TD Bank Sports Center by the final score of 6-1 over Maine. Three different players scored in the rout, while seven individuals recorded an assist.
With her four goals and assist tonight, Babstock now has 11 points in the first three games of the season.
“The goals are unbelievable and that goes without saying,” Quinnipiac head coach Rick Seeley said. “She’s amazing around the net. But the most impressive thing is her intensity. That’s the big improvement over two years. She’s going hard every shift, and playing tough defensive hockey as well. When she’s going that hard she’s tough to stop.”
The Bobcats grabbed the lead early when senior forward Babstock netted her first of four goals on the day, 7:08 into the first period. Senior Felica Vieweg recorded the assist.
Quinnipiac (1-1-1) outshot Maine 19-7 in the first period, and 39-9 for the game.
“We just have to keep every aspect of our system simple,” Babstock said. “We did that today. We can’t try and create too much, and we were getting the puck to the net and crashing well. I thought we moved the puck well and created opportunities.”
In the second period the home team added three more goals. With 18:23 remaining Vieweg recorded her second goal of the season, assisted by Babstock and Nicole Brown.
Babstock then added to the lead by scoring her team-leading fifth goal of the year just five minutes later. She was assisted by Nicole Kosta and Regan Boulton.
With the assist, Kosta extended her all time program-scoring streak to 10 games. The sophomore forward has one goal and five assists on the year.
The third goal of the period was tallied by Boulton, who gave Quinnipiac a 4-0 lead with just 51.7 seconds remaining. She was assisted by Frykas and Erica Uden Johansson.
In the third period Babstock added two more goals. She was assisted by Boulton and Uden Johansson on her first goal, and Johansson on her second.
“I think the key to it all is to just keep skating and moving the puck,” Babstock said afterwards. “It comes natural to me.”
Bobcats goalie Victoria Vigilanti picked up the victory. She improved her goals-against average to 2.5 per game on the season.
Maine’s lone goal was scored with 11:03 remaining in the final period by Audra Richards. She was assisted by teammates Brooklyn Langlois and Brittany Dougherty.
With the win Quinnipiac is now 3-11-1 all time against Maine.
