HAMDEN, Conn – On Saturday afternoon, No. 7 Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey improved to 9-0-0 on the season after defeating No. 4 Colgate 3-0.

Before the puck dropped, there was one noticeable absence on the Bobcats’ bench. Graduate student forward and captain Lexie Adzija had her right arm in a sling after taking a puck high in the third period of last night’s 4-1 victory over No. 8 Cornell.

“We have such great depth on this team … I’m really proud of our team stepping up, especially considering we didn’t have Lexie,” Quinnipiac head coach Cass Turner said.

Turner did not go into detail about Adzija’s injury or offer a possible timeline for her return.

With just over 12 minutes remaining in the first period, Bobcats senior defender Kate Reilly fired a slapshot from the blue line into the top left corner of the goal, off assists from sophomore forward Maya Labad and senior forward Alexa Hoskin, giving Quinnipiac the early lead.

While the Bobcats were mainly creating scoring chances from the blue line, the Raiders were crowding the mouth of the goal, trying to stuff a shot past graduate student goaltender Logan Angers.

Then, with just over six minutes left in the period, Bobcats freshman forward Madison Chantler lost her skate blade, forcing Quinnipiac into a 5-on-4. 

Chantler was unable to stand up and in desperation, started to head toward the bench. The play was blown dead and Chantler was helped off the ice. After some brief repairs, Chantler was back up and running.

Entering the final minute of the period, Raiders senior forward Danielle Serdachny wristed a shot off at the faceoff dot that had Angers beat. Luckily for the Bobcats, the shot caught the post, keeping it a 1-0 lead.

Starting the second period, the Bobcats came out firing, letting off four shots in the first 30 seconds. However, it didn’t matter if the shot was high, low, left or right. After letting in Reilly’s goal, Raiders junior goaltender Kayla Osborne turned into a wall, stopping the next 20 shots.

Just before the midway point in the period after blocking a shot from Raiders junior forward Kalty Kaltounkova, Angers was unable to control the rebound. 

The puck turned out to be next to Angers’ left skate, mere inches in front of the red line. When Kaltounkova noticed, she charged at the net. But at the last second, Angers looked down, saw the puck and covered it, ending the scoring threat.

Still trailing 1-0 in the dying seconds of the second period, the Raiders went on the powerplay with Bobcats junior forward Olivia Mobley being assessed a body-checking minor.

Entering the third period the Raiders ramped up their physicality, knowing time was against them. 

The Bobcats were able to match the Raiders, forcing them to the outside and clogging the shooting and passing lanes. The Raiders were forced to resort to dump and chase hockey.

Just past the two-minute mark in the period Raiders sophomore forward Katie Chan fired a shot toward Angers. The puck deflected off Angers’s left pad, off the crossbar, and landed behind the net. This would prove to be the Raiders’ best scoring chance of the period.

Unable to beat the Bobcats 5-on-5, Raiders head coach Greg Fardo pulled Osborne with 3:16 left on the clock.

After some fancy stick work, it was Mobley putting the Bobcats up 2-0 with 1:48 remaining. Then with 39 seconds left, graduate student forward Shay Maloney scored another empty netter, sealing the 3-0 win for the Bobcats.

This win moves the Bobcats to 9-0-0 on the season, giving Angers her second shutout of the year. 

Next up for Quinnipiac is a trip down to New Haven to play the first half of the Battle of Whitney Ave. against arch-rival No. 9 Yale on Friday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m.