HAMDEN, Conn – The No. 5 Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team used an explosive four-goal third period to beat St. Lawrence 5-2 on Saturday. 

Both the Bobcats and Saints traded offensive opportunities in the first period. Quinnipiac graduate student goaltender Logan Angers made a nice save early on to thwart a St. Lawrence two-on-one to keep the game scoreless. 

Quinnipiac wasn’t going to let its goaltender’s efforts go to waste. Sophomore forward Maya Labad put the Bobcats on the board first, beating Saints’ senior goalie high glove side to give Quinnipiac a 1-0 lead. 

The Saints tried to respond quickly, but sophomore forward Hillary Sterling’s shot went wide right, a big missed chance for St. Lawrence to respond. 

After St. Lawrence’s coaching staff took turns yelling at the refs over the course of the final five minutes of the first period, its players must have gotten the message too, since they came out and dominated the second period.

The Saints tied the game just 30 seconds into the second period. Junior forward Julia Gosling lofted a pass towards the middle of the net, which was brought in by senior forward Shailynn Snow, who sneaked it past Angers to tie the game. 

The Saints played physical throughout, arguably the most physical team the Bobcats have played all season.

Quinnipiac got its first power play of the afternoon after junior forward Aly McLeod got called for tripping. However, the Bobcats were unable to capitalize on the advantage, only mustering one shot as the Saints killed off the penalty easily. 

St. Lawrence continued to dominate control of offensive possession, outshooting the Bobcats 16-4 in the period, but Angers stood strong for Quinnipiac. 

Continuing the trend of early period goals, the Saints got another one less than four minutes into the third period. 

Hamden native and St. Lawrence freshman defender Kiley Mastel took advantage of a hard shot from the blue line in transition that rebounded too far out and beat the Bobcats to the loose puck before firing it past Angers for a 2-1 St. Lawrence advantage.

Saints’ junior forward Anna Segedi got called for tripping with 12:23 remaining, giving Quinnipiac a golden opportunity to tie the game. However, the  visitor’s penalty kill got the job done, again.

Shortly after the power play ended, senior defender Kate Reilly jumped on a loose puck in front of the net, back-handing it past Morgan to tie the game, her second-straight game with a goal.

With momentum in the Bobcats favor, the offense flipped the switch, scoring three more goals in the final eight minutes to bury the Saints. 

“Going into the period break we were on edge, definitely a little tense,” junior forward Olivia Mobley said. “But coach came in and said ‘you know, we have a choice on how we play and how we react to situations.’ So rather than beat them at their own game, we just played Quinnipiac hockey.”

Mobley got the party started, giving the Bobcats the lead as she fired a shot from the right side to the top shelf for a 3-2 lead. 

After, Mobley also got in on the Bobcats’ fourth goal of the game, forcing Morgan to make a tough save, which bounced right back out to freshman forward Madison Chantler, who beat Morgan’s diving effort to extend the Bobcats’ lead to two. 

After the Saints pulled their goalie, Quinnipiac put an exclamation point on its victory as graduate student forward Shay Maloney slapped the puck off the boards in her own end, which somehow found its way to the empty net for a 5-2 Bobcats advantage. 

The Bobcats remain unbeaten at home (7-0) with the victory, while improving to 12-1 overall and 6-1 in ECAC play.

Quinnipiac will now turn its attention to the Nutmeg Classic, which begins on Nov. 25. 

“It’s the first championship on the list that we want, our team takes it really seriously and they get excited for it,” Quinnipiac head coach Cass Turner said. 

Turner was also thrilled to hear that the Quinnipiac volleyball team had won the MAAC championship during their game, completing a phenomenal fall sports season for Quinnipiac athletics, which also included MAAC titles for men’s and women’s soccer, as well as women’s cross country. 

“It’s awesome,” Turner said. “There’s nothing better than winning championships, I think it’s not by accident when you see one team win and you see another team win and another … it’s inspiring.”

The Bobcats will look to defend their Nutmeg Classic title when they begin tournament play on Nov. 25, against Bemidji State.