The No. 3 Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team has come out of the gates firing on all cylinders so far this season. The team currently sits at 10-1-0, its only loss coming to arch-rival, then-No. 8 Yale. 

Last season, while the Bobcats did have two ties on their record, they didn’t suffer their first loss until the 15th game of the season, a tough 1-0 loss to Princeton on Nov . 13. 

Statistically, the Bobcats are outscoring their opponents at nearly a 4-to-1 ratio, having scored 44 goals, second in the conference, while only having allowed 12. This dominance on both ends of the ice even surpasses that of last season, where they outpaced opponents at a 3-to-1 rate on the scoreboard. 

A portion of this scoring comes from Quinnipiac’s respectable power play, which has found the back of the net seven times on 31 opportunities, putting them seventh in the nation. Already in this young season, the Bobcats have shown their depth, with their top five goal scorers coming from four different classes. 

Freshman forward Madison Chantler has already cemented herself as a consistent scoring threat, currently tied for second on the team with six goals. Among freshmen, Chantler ranks fifth in the nation in scoring. 

“She’s further ahead than most,” head coach Cass Turner said after the team’s 2-0 shutout of New Hampshire on Oct. 2. “In terms of her understanding of how to win pucks back as well as decision-making when she has the puck”. 

Quinnipiac has also shown it is anything but selfish with the puck. Of the team’s 23 players, 18 have registered points so far this season. 

This will become valuable as teams are forced to decide which players to pay attention to, which could leave other players uncovered, increasing scoring chances. 

With the amount of players proving to be offensive threats, it leaves the defense at a tactical crossroads. With only five players on the ice, if teams decide to pay attention to a singular player, the Bobcats’ offensive talent will make them pay. 

Even with the team’s stellar start to the season, a Quinnipiac player leads the ECAC in only one major offensive category: power-play goals. 

This again highlights the depth of the team, and while the Bobcats may not have players dominating the conference statistically, that doesn’t mean that they’re not producing. 

On the backend, a combination of the Bobcats’ stellar defense as well as their goaltending prowess, has led to four of their 10 wins being shutouts. 

“We’re limiting shots, and limiting dangerous shots,” Turner said after the UNH game on Oct. 2. 

So far this season Quinnipiac goaltenders have only faced 202 shots, an average of 18.4 per game, compared to the 440 shots that opposing goaltenders have faced, an average of 40 per game. 

“We’re relentless on the puck, we want to stay on offense,” Turner said. “I think that’s something we’re better at right now than we’ve been in years past.” 

Logan Angers, who shared the net with BU Transfer Corinne Schroeder last season, was one of the best goaltenders in all of NCAA Division I last year. She returned for her fifth year of eligibility as a graduate student. 

She has also been one to praise the team’s defense early in the season. 

“I think our defense is super strong,” Angers said after a 4-1 victory over then-No. 8 Cornell on Oct. 28. “We get so many good blocked shots and good sticks I find is our biggest thing.” 

The Bobcats have historically been more than willing to surrender their bodies to stop pucks from reaching the net, a trend that will need to continue this season. The team had 408 blocked shots in 39 games last season and already has 74 so far this season, an average of 6.7 per game. This time last season, the team had 54 blocked shots or an average of six per game, so the team is on pace to match or exceed last season’s mark. 

Even though Angers had a great 2021-22 season, she was the Bobcats’ second-string goaltender behind Schroeder. Schroeder had nearly double the amount of playing time and made 14 more starts in goal than Angers last season. 

So far this season Angers currently sits at 6-1, with two shutouts, a 1.28 goals against average, which ranks as the seventh best in the nation and a .932 save percentage. 

Second on the depth chart for the Bobcats is junior Catie Boudiette. With the dynamic duo of Angers and Schroeder in between the pipes last season, Boudiette saw nearly no playing time, registering only 40 minutes in five games. 

In the team’s first six games of the season, Angers and Boudiette alternated each game. However, in the team’s last five games, Angers started four straight, with Boudiette in between the pipes for the team’s game vs Brown on Nov. 5. 

Goaltending will be crucial to the team’s success this year because of the challenges that come with playing in the ECAC. 

“We believe the ECAC is the toughest conference in college hockey,” assistant coach Amanda Alessi said on Feb. 10. 

“Every game feels like a playoff game, which is awesome preparation for the ECAC playoffs and NCAA tournament,” Alessi added. 

While the team has had great overall records over the past several seasons, an ECAC conference title has eluded them. Last season, the Bobcats finished fourth in the conference before wrapping up the season two games away from the NCAA championship game. 

Whatever the team does moving forward, there’s one thing they can’t do: let its foot off the gas.