HAMDEN, Conn – On senior day, the No. 6 Quinnipiac women’s hockey team capped off its regular season home slate with a 5-1 victory over Union Saturday afternoon. 

As it was its final home game, Quinnipiac appropriately tabbed the game as senior day.

The Bobcats came out firing on all cylinders. Their first opportunity of the game came when Union senior forward Emily King got called for slashing, sending the hosts to the power play.

The Dutchwomen put on a defensive show during the penalty kill, blocking two of Quinnipiac’s five shots, while the other three were saved by sophomore goaltender Sophie Matsoukas.

As the power play concluded, the visitors relaxed on defense. 37 seconds later, the Bobcats struck.

Senior forward Jess Schryver sent a shot at Matsoukas, which was denied. However, the blocker save redirected right to the stick of junior forward Nine Steigauf, who pushed it home for the 1-0 advantage.

Junior forward Olivia Mobley did not believe one goal was enough, but she couldn’t push the Quinnipiac lead to two as her attempt rang the post. 

Unlike Mobley, Union didn’t let their scoring chance go to waste, tying the game just 26 seconds after Mobley hit the pipe. 

Junior forward Celeste Beaudoin broke away from the Bobcat defense, blasting a shot past graduate student goaltender Logan Angers for Union’s first goal against Quinnipiac since 2021.

Despite the even score, the Bobcats had been dominating the period, outshooting the Dutchwomen 17-3. 

The second period continued to produce a large number of shots for the Bobcats, but the Dutchwomen got their chances as well.

Two of those chances for the visitors came when senior forward Sadie Peart and graduate student forward Shay Maloney were called for back-to-back power plays, but the Bobcats penalty kill unit was up to the task. 

The two sides went back-and-forth, but couldn’t muster any shots that could find the back of the net.

Matsoukas was phenomenal for Union through the first two frames, stopping 32 of the 33 shots she faced.

The Bobcats had scored five goals in each of their last two meetings against Union, so they needed an offensive explosion in the third to keep pace, and that’s exactly what they got. 

Senior forward Alex Hoskin pushed the Bobcats into the lead, taking a puck across the entire face of the goal before sliding it past Matsoukas for a 2-1 advantage. 

Two minutes later, it was freshman forward Madison Chantler breaking away from the Dutchwomen defense before burying a shot just under the crossbar for her 11th goal of the season. while pushing the Bobcat lead to two in the process.

Chants on a breakaway? Unmatched 😤 pic.twitter.com/D6PShfO4fO

— Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey (@QU_WIH) February 11, 2023

Junior defender Maddy Samoskevich forced a bad pass from the Dutchwomen right to front of the net, which Maloney was able to barely fight past Matsoukas, for a 4-1 Bobcat lead. 

Quinnipiac wasn’t satisfied with only four goals, as it matched its goal tally from the previous two meetings when junior defender Kendall Cooper found Peart, who dangled past a defender before powering it home for a 5-1 lead. 

As the final horn sounded, the Bobcats moved to 27-5 overall and 17-3 in conference play.

Following the game, Quinnipiac honored its seniors and graduate students for Senior Day.

The Bobcats will be back in action on Feb. 17 when they travel to New York to play St. Lawrence at 6 p.m.