Mobley plays hero, No. 2/4 Quinnipiac sinks No. 5 Colgate in overtime

Junior forward Nina Steigauf has six goals and 11 points in 24 games this season.

Cameron Levasseur, Sports Editor
January 13, 2023

In a crucial ECAC Hockey battle, Friday’s matchup between No. 2/4 Quinnipiac and No. 5 Colgate fit the billing. The two national powerhouses fought into overtime, where junior forward Olivia Mobley struck 31 seconds in to give the Bobcats a 2-1 victory.

The victory completed the season sweep for Quinnipiac over the Raiders and propelled the Bobcats further into first place in the conference, now 11-1 in ECAC Hockey play and holding a four and a half point lead over Yale.

Neither side generated much zone time in the game’s opening minutes, play flowing north to south with regularity as the puck pressure of both defenses forced turnovers and prevented second-chance opportunities.

The Bobcats, who are third in the nation in penalty minutes per game (4.35), were uncharacteristically forced to kill penalties twice in the opening frame. Luckily for Quinnipiac, it also has the best penalty kill in the NCAA (96%), which flummoxed the Raiders on both attempts.

Looking to break the game open, Colgate came out flying to start the second period. The Raiders matched their first period shot total in a matter of minutes, pummeling four shots in quick succession on Bobcats’ graduate student goaltender Logan Angers. The experienced netminder was up to the task, however, and kept the game even.

From there it was Quinnipiac’s turn. The Bobcats mustered several chances throughout the middle of the period, including a point-blank blast from graduate student forward Shay Maloney in the slot. But Raiders’ sticks and the play of sophomore goaltender Hannah Murphy denied each, and the teams headed into the final intermission still knotted at zero.

Early in the third, Quinnipiac’s top line finally broke the deadlock. Graduate student Lexie Adzija forced a turnover in the offensive zone that was picked up by senior Jess Schryver, who threaded a pass to junior Nina Steigauf in front. Steigauf waited a full three seconds to draw Murphy out of her net and then fired it past the Colgate goaltender for her sixth goal of the season.

Hold… hold… hold… NOW 😤😤 pic.twitter.com/TU7umczT7z

— Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey (@QU_WIH) January 14, 2023

Not to be shutout by the Bobcats for the second time this season, the Raiders put on a surge as the clock wound down – and it paid off.

Senior forward Danielle Serdachny batted a deflected puck out of the air to herself before beating Angers with a shot to tie the game at one with less than five minutes to play.

Colgate got one, but it wanted another. The Raiders rifled shot after shot towards the Bobcats’ net from high-scoring areas, creating odd-man rushes and trapping Quinnipiac in its own zone. But every shot met Angers, a Bobcats’ defender or the post, and after 60 minutes, the game remained even at one.

It was Quinnipiac’s second overtime game of the season, the first since the season opener at Maine on Sept. 23, and much like against the Black Bears, it was Mobley who called game. The junior collected the puck off her own blocked shot and found twine on a shot against the grain to secure the win.