Sophomore Chelsea Laden got the start in net on Friday night against Union at Messa Rink and made the save of the night for Quinnipiac as she stopped a potential game-winner.
Union rushed down the ice on a two-on-one advantage with less than two minutes to go in overtime. The save one of Laden’s 16 on the night, preserved a 2-2 tie for the Bobcats. The Bobcats move to (5-4-2,2-2-1 ECAC) while Union stands at (3-5-1, 0-2-1 ECAC).
Quinnipiac finished with a 34-17 advantage in shots-on-goal but couldn’t break through a solid defensive outing from Union. The Bobcats extend their unbeaten streak to 22 games against Union as they push their all-time record to 18-0-4, their best mark against any opponent in program history. Junior Kelly Babstock extended her point streak to four games with a goal while freshman Nicole Brown tallied her first point on a goal and sophomore Morgan Fritz-Ward added her first career assist.
Union scored the first goal of the game in the first period at the 16:09 mark on the power-play. Christine Valente scored on assists from Maddy Norton and Alex Tancrell-Fontai.
The Bobcats battled back and netted the equalizer at 14:04 of the second period. Fritz-Ward blocked a Union one-timer from the point and sent a pass to Brown. Brown skated in past the blue line and blasted a slap shot that rattled in off the left post and into the goal to tie the game at 1.
Quinnipiac had a great opportunity to get the go ahead goal as Nicole Kosta skated in on a breakaway. Kosta’s backhand attempt was pad saved by Union goaltender Shenae Lundberg to prevent the scoring opportunity.
A defensive mishap for the Bobcats led to a Union goal midway through the third period. Quinnipiac’s clearance attempt failed as the pass from behind Laden’s goal was deflected and immediately shot on goal by Elsa Bruestle. Laden stopped the initial shot but the rebound out front was tipped in by Kathryn Tomaselli to give Union a 2-1 lead.
Babstock tied the game less than five minutes later. Union turned the puck over in their defensive zone as Babstock intercepted a pass. The ECAC Hockey’s leading scorer fired a wrister by Lundberg for her 12th goal of the season.
In overtime, both teams had scoring chances and Babstock nearly found Kosta on a centering pass but Union defenders deflected the pass wide to the boards.
The Bobcats look to enter the win column on their New York trip, as they travel to Rensselaer on Saturday at 4 p.m. from Houston Field House, where they look to continue their three-game winning streak against the Engineers.
