Photo credits: Al Valerio
The Quinnipiac women’s hockey team is having a historic year, and now they have the chance to host a home game in the ECAC Hockey Tournament.
Senior forward Kallie Flor’s third-period goal, along with the Bobcats defensive intensity, led them to a 1-0 victory over Yale at the TD Bank Sports Center Friday night.
QU Freshman goaltender Victoria Vigilanti made 17 saves in her fifth shutout of the season, and with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s loss to Cornell, the Bobcats move into fourth place in the ECAC standings and in position to host a home game for the playoffs.
“They’ve got confidence, they know they should win, but every game’s an individual event,” Quinnipiac head coach Rick Seeley said.
But the win did not come easy. For two-and-a-half periods, the game was scoreless and Yale goaltender Jackee Snikeris was stopping everything.
“Their goalie was hot tonight,” Flor said. “She was stopping all the first shots and we weren’t crashing the net. When you have a hot goalie like that you need to get in her face and we weren’t doing that.”
With 8:46 left in the game, Flor made sure to execute the game plan of crashing the net. After Snikeris turned away a shot by Janine Duffy, Flor was right there to put the puck past Snikeris.
“We had to focus it down to the basics,” Flor said. “I happened to be in the high slot jumping on the loose puck. It was what we were working on the whole game, and it worked out.”
The Bobcats appeared to have a goal in the second period, when Regan Boulton fired a shot on a 5-on-3 power-play advantage that hit the top of the crossbar. The red light flashed briefly signifying a goal, but the referee ruled no goal.
“[The referee] said he was going to check but didn’t think it went in,” Seeley said. “I thought it was in, but the coach usually loses.”
“We wanted [that goal] bad,” Flor said. “Those are the opportunities against really good teams that you have to take advantage of.”
The Bobcats’ defense was also a major key in the victory. They were tenacious from the beginning, not allowing a shot on goal until 9:31 remaining in the first period.
“It’s defense first, then offense,” Vigilanti said. “As long as we get one and don’t let any in, that’s how we win games.”
Quinnipiac celebrates Senior Day on Saturday when the Bobcats face Brown at the TD Bank Sports Center for the final game of the regular season.
