Over the past two weeks, the Quinnipiac women’s hockey team has been one of the busiest teams on campus. The Bobcats hosted the University of Findlay on Friday, October 31, and Saturday, November 1. After hosting the two game set, Quinnipiac had a week to prepare for two more games on Friday, November 7 and Sunday, November 9.
On Friday night, the Bobcats traveled to Storrs, Conn. to face the University of Connecticut Huskies. Two days later, the Bobcats traveled to Milford to face the Sacred Heart Pioneers.
The University of Findlay is located in Ohio. While this many seem like an obscure school, it is not one that the women’s Ice Hockey team could ignore. The Oilers came into the two game set with a 2-2 record. They started the season 0-2, but have played well as of late, and have evened their record at .500. Findlay averaged an impressive 3.5 goals per game and had scored on 28 percent of their power plays.
Friday afternoon’s game marked the first ever meeting between the two schools. As exciting as this seemed, the Bobcats did not respond well. Findlay took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Findlay’s Heidi Tallqvist then notched two goals in the second period to put the Oilers up 3-0.
Quinnipiac senior Laura Magenheimer scored her first goal of the season early in the third period. However, this goal did not prove to be inspirational as the Bobcats were shut out the rest of the way, losing 3-1.
A little over 24 hours later, the Bobcats looked for redemption against Findlay. This redemption was not achieved though, as the Oilers defeated the Bobcats 4-0.
Findlay scored one goal in the first period, two in the second, and one more in the third to improve to 4-2 on the season. With the loss, Quinnipiac dropped to 1-6 for the season. The lone highlight of the game was freshman goalie Janelle Wolitski’s 31 saves which helped to keep the score respectable.
One week and some intense practices later, the Bobcats traveled to Storrs, Conn, to face the University of Connecticut Huskies. Coming into the match-up, Quinnipiac was winless against the Huskies all time with a 0-6 record. This was an ominous warning that was not heeded by the Bobcats.
Both teams played to a scoreless tie in the first period. UConn scored the first goal of the game in the second period. Leslie Hurlburt notched her first career goal to give the Huskies the 1-0 lead.
Quinnipiac’s Caitlin Peters beat the Huskies’ defense and forced a shot past their goalie to tie the score 1-1. However, the tie was short lived as UConn scored the eventual game-winning goal two minutes later.
Neither team was able to score in the third period. Besides the Peters’ goal, one other highlight for the Bobcats was junior goalie Catherine Lapare’s 41 saves. The Bobcats dropped to 1-6 with the loss, and the Huskies improved to 2-4-3 after the victory.
After suffering three straight losses, Quinnipiac came out with a vengeance against Sacred Heart University.
Junior Gillian Gallagher and freshman Vicky Graham each exploded for hat tricks. Senior Serena Hillman added two assists. Senior Debbie Beaudoin, junior Jayne Riley, and sophomores Sarah Campbell and Erin Sweet each notched goals for the Bobcats.
The Bobcats’ defense proved to be too much for the Pioneers, allowing a measly 13 shots on goal.
Junior goalie Catherine Lapare responded and saved every shot she faced. By the time the onslaught was finished, Quinnipiac had skated away with a 10-0 victory. With the win, the Bobcats improved to 2-6-0 on the season. The loss dropped Sacred Heart to 2-3-0.
With all these games packed into two weekends, the women’s hockey team kept busy. Though the team is 2-6, the Bobcats have played with tremendous resiliency and courage. The Bobcats have a week to prepare for their match-up with Clarkson University at home on Saturday, November 15.
The Bobcats still have road games against Vermont, Ohio State, and Wayne State. They also have pivotal home games against Brown, Cornell, and Boston College. With 25 games remaining on their schedule it is still possible for them to turn the season around.
