HAMDEN – The No. 7 Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team battled to a 4-1 victory over a tough Union team Friday night. The shining moment of the night came from graduate student captain Kate Reilly who became the program’s all-time leading scorer for defenders.
The career-defining moment came with a little over five minutes remaining in the second period, when the captain feeded a cross-crease pass to freshman forward Kahlen Lamarche who tapped in the historic puck.
“It’s honestly been a lot of fun,” Reilly said. “We do a lot of skill work with (assistant coach) Brent (Hill) and that’s been really valuable. Nothing happens without the team so I was really happy when (Lamarche) put that one in the net.”
Shifting towards the game, the Bobcats and the Garnet Chargers battled through the first 10 minutes of the opening frame, neither team gaining any traction. With Quinnipiac coming off a Nutmeg Classic championship last weekend, it seemed like the Bobcats could find themselves in trouble.
“ECAC Hockey is exciting every game,” head coach Cass Turner said. “Our team finds it easy to rebound from a success like that and come back and play these games because we want to finish in that top four. We know every single point matters.”
Luckily for the Bobcats sophomore forward Emerson Jarvis broke through a stingy Union defense. The Alberta, Canada, native went all the way around the net before tucking the puck away past junior goaltender Sophie Matsoukas.
“Her speed is such an asset for her,” Turner said. “I think she was outstanding, and I think that goal just showed that she has a knack for the back of the net.”
The second period began in a similar fashion to the first, with Union’s forecheck limiting Quinnipiac’s ability to establish a controlled attack in the zone.
“I’m really impressed with our team’s resilience and toughness,” Turner said. “They did some things that made us uncomfortable, but I thought we kept bouncing back and finding plays.”
Lamarche was a big factor in finding plays, leading the team in shots and rapid firing at Matsoukas throughout the game. The Ontario, Canada, native finally cashed in on Reilly’s record-breaking assist.
“She’s a goal scorer,” Turner said. “The thing that I’m really impressed with is just how much she’s growing defensively, and she’s really learning how to win the puck back in a different way.”
Later in the period Union displayed its toughness when sophomore forward Riley Walsh went five-hole to beat graduate student goaltender Logan Angers, and closed the second frame only down one.
The third period was all Bobcats with graduate forward Jess Schryver leading the way, using her defense to create offense. Schryver forced a turnover in Union’s zone, and capitalized with a breakaway goal to extend the lead to two.
“I feel like overall I get stuck in a defensive mindset,” Schryver said. “Defense comes pretty naturally to me. I would say offense is what comes harder.”
Schryver seemed to settle into that offensive mindset as she finished off Union after collecting her own rebound and stuffed it home to cap off a two-goal night.
“To see Jess score twice today when we needed her to step up and do that for us was awesome,” Turner said.
Quinnipiac now turns its attention to Saturday when it welcomes in RPI for a 3 p.m. matchup.
