NEW HAVEN, Conn — All good things must come to an end. On Friday night, the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team received its first tally in the loss column, falling 4-2 on the road to rival Yale.

After trailing by two early in the first period, the Bobcats (9-1-0) climbed back into it but were met with force from a ruthless Bulldogs (3-0-0) defense. Quinnipiac’s offense seemed to be nonexistent as the team never consistently maintained possession of the puck.

“They got out to a fast start and I think it put us on our heels a little bit,” head coach Cass Turner said.

Yale sophomore forward Anna Bargman broke the ice early in the first on a second-chance poke after the puck squeaked through the five-hole of graduate student goaltender Logan Angers.

Bad puck luck and sloppy play from the Bobcats continued, and the Bulldogs doubled their lead after a pinball play resulted in the puck going right to the stick of freshman Naomi Boucher, who put it past the far side of Angers for a 2-0 lead just 10 minutes into the game.

In an effort to spark the team, Turner called a timeout. It was unknown exactly what was said, but the result spoke for itself.

Quinnipiac found new life after the team huddle as senior forward Sadie Peart put the team on her back, going coast-to-coast and finishing off the play with a rocket off the post and into the net.

After going into the second period down by one, the Bobcats were hungry. Thanks to the work of linemates senior Alexa Hoskin and sophomore Maya Labad, who drove to the net. Eventually, a bouncing puck came right to Peart on the goal line, where she flipped it past sophomore goaltender Pia Dukaric to tie the game at two apiece. 

“(Peart) had a phenomenal game,” Turner said. “I think all three of them were just ready to battle and fight for the team.”

But the offensive push for the Bobcats ended there. The Bulldogs answered with a goal just 17 seconds after Peart’s mark. Freshman forward Carina DiAntonio completed a well-executed 2-on-1 rush after a beautiful saucer pass from senior forward Charlotte Welch.

 Not many scoring chances arose on either side as the clock ticked down in the third. Both squads played a physical, gritty period with little to no room to skate in the middle of the ice.

With just over two minutes left to play, Quinnipiac had its biggest opportunity to tie the game after Bargman was sent to the box for tripping. Turner pulled Angers from the net and the Bobcats were buzzing with a 6-on-4 advantage. 

With time running out, the Bobcats put seven shots on net during the power play, but one golden opportunity on the one-timer from junior forward Olivia Mobley missed an open net. The next play would result in a loose puck, which Welch took for a breakaway and glided into the empty cage, putting the icing on the cake for the Bulldogs.

“Again, we kept fighting,” Turner said. “I’m proud of how we kept fighting back and how we responded.”

Despite the loss, Turner, being the optimistic coach that she is, wants the team to stick to their strategies and not adjust based on the score.

“It’s sometimes hard to stick to your game plan,” Turner said. “But we need to be comfortable in who we are.”

Quinnipiac will look to bounce back against another Ivy League foe in Brown tomorrow, as the Bobcats will look to re-energize themselves for puck drop at 3 p.