Photo Credits: Al Valerio
The Quinnipiac’s women’s ice hockey team defeated the St. Lawrence Saints 2-1 at the TD Bank Sports Center on Friday evening.
The Bobcats opened up the scoring when defenseman Bethany Dymarczyk put one on the board 23 seconds into the third period. With assists by forward Heather Hughes and defenseman Melissa Perry, Dymarczyk’s shot slipped into the lower-left corner of the net.
Eight minutes later, Quinnipiac’s second goal came when a shot by defender Felicia Vieweg hit the post and deflected into the net past Saint goaltender Brittony Chartier. Hughes and forward Kallie Flor were credited with the assists.
Trailing by two, the Saints pulled their goalie with seven minutes to play, a rare occurrence in any hockey game. But the Bobcats pulled through the obstacle.
“Until they pulled the goalie, I thought we had total control of the [third] period,” Quinnipiac head coach Rick Seeley said. “Then, I thought we battled the last seven minutes. It was an interesting situation to have the goalie pulled all that time, but our kids responded well.”
With an extra man on the ice, the Saints seemed intent on tying up the score. They nearly succeeded when their first goal came with 54 seconds remaining. The Saint senior forward Tara Akstull scored an unassisted goal. Despite several attempts, the Saints never scored the game-tying goal.
The first two periods were full of fierce competition, but both teams remained scoreless. The defensive lines on both sides were strong, as few shots reached either team’s goalie. Of the 34 shots attempted by Quinnipiac, only 11 hit their target, and only 14 of St. Lawrence’s 33 shots hit Bobcat goalie Victoria Vigilanti.
“It was a good game defensively,” Vigilanti said on the defensive performance. “They forced all shots to be made from the outside, so it made my job easier and my life easier at the same time. That’s a goalie’s dream.”
With this win over St. Lawrence, the Bobcats move up in the ECAC Hockey standings. While the Bobcats move up in ranking, their chance at home-ice advantage for the playoffs increases as well.
“We were pretty sure we needed to win three of our last four to have a chance at home ice, and this was the critical one,” Seeley said. “If St. Lawrence had beaten us, they would’ve been three points ahead, and I don’t think we could have caught them. So this was a critical one, and now I think the pressure’s off.”
The Bobcats (16-8-7, 9-4-6 ECAC), who moved up to fourth place, will take on Clarkson on Saturday at 4 p.m.
