After losing last year’s ECAC Hockey first-round matchup to St. Lawrence in three games, the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team desperately needed to start this year’s postseason on a good note.
Shiann Darkangelo scored two first-period goals, Chelsea Laden turned in a 28-save shutout, and Quinnipiac went on to defeat St. Lawrence 5-0 in Game 1 of the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals at the TD Bank Sports Center Friday night.
“Getting back on the winning track was so important,” Quinnipiac head coach Rick Seeley said. “We’ve had a tendency this year, when we get one or two goals, to sit back a little bit. We just have to play the same game, and we did tonight.”
Darkangelo scored less than five minutes in, and the Bobcats would never look back.
Kelly Babstock intercepted a St. Lawrence pass at mid-ice, skated toward the St. Lawrence net and wristed a shot at Saints’ goalie Carmen MacDonald. The puck deflected off MacDonald’s left pad, and Darkangelo was able to track it down and put it home to give Quinnipiac the 1-0 advantage.
“We had good forcheck all night, we were pressuring them,” Darkangelo said. “On the first one Babs had a shot in, both Emma [Woods] and I were there trailing the play.”
Just over three minutes later Darkangelo scored again, this time off of the faceoff. Quinnipiac won the draw from the left dot, and Darkangelo sent a one-timer past the right side of MacDonald to make it 2-0 with 12:34 left in the first period.
“She’s been great since the beginning of the year,” Seeley said of Darkangelo. “She’s scored in almost all of our big games, and she did again to night. It’s nothing new for Shi.”
Meghan Turner was the next Bobcat to score, as she netted a goal 2:03 into the second period. Amanda Colin and Emma Woods each added a goal in the third period to extend the lead to five, helping Quinnipiac take a 1-0 series lead.
Goaltender Chelsea Laden did the rest, recording her eighth shutout of the year.
“I just felt really confident going into this game. It helped getting two early goals in the first period,” Laden said.
Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence will take the ice for Game 2 tomorrow, with puck drop scheduled for 4 p.m.
“This outcome has absolutely nothing to do with the event tomorrow,” Seeley said. “The game’s are all independent to each other. We have to get right back into the focus we had tonight.”
