HAMDEN – After getting out to an early lead on Saturday afternoon, the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team cruised to a 4-2 win over RPI. The win moved the Bobcats to 10-0-0 at home this season and extended their winning streak to four games.
The game started slow with players from both teams struggling to connect on passes.
Finally, just past the five-minute mark in the period, the Bobcats had their first sustained offensive zone pressure, beginning to pressure Engineers freshman goaltender Reese Keating.
Just as the Bobcats offense got into a groove, sophomore forward Madison Chantler beat Keating blocker side for the game’s opening goal.
“Since the moment she’s got here she’s been a really important player for us,” Quinnipiac head coach Cass Turner said.
Halfway through the period Engineers sophomore forward Nina Christof was given a two-minute minor for hooking, giving Quinnipiac its first power play of the game.
The teams would combine for 10 penalties in the game – six against the Bobcats and four against the Engineers.
While the team was only able to muster one shot on net, the hosts were given a second chance as only four seconds after Christof’s penalty expired, senior forward Ellie Kaiser was assessed a body-checking minor.
Moments before Kaiser was going to be let out of the box, Quinnipiac was able to convert as senior defender Maddie Samoskevich found twine for her first goal of the season.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster to get that first one,” Samoskevich said.
Before Samoskevich’s goal, the team hadn’t scored on the power play since their Nov. 8 matchup against Post.
“We are always working on our power play,” Turner said. “It’s something we put a lot of emphasis on.”
The first Quinnipiac penalty belonged to graduate forward and co-captain Kate Reilly who got called for interference with just over 90 seconds left in the period.
As her team looked to get on the board in the dying seconds of the period, Christof screened Bobcats graduate student goaltender Logan Angers. However, as she was trying to screen her Christof ended up skating a little too far into the blue paint and ended up bumping Angers.
As the teams returned to the ice with time remaining on Reilly’s penalty and Christof in the box for goalie interference the second period started with four-on-four hockey.
Right out of the box and trying to repay her teammates for stopping the Bobcats power play Christof was all alone after intercepting a pass between Bobcats senior defenders Kendall Cooper and Samoskevich.
However, Angers stood tall, made the glove save and kept RPI off the board.
Shortly after Christof’s chance, Bobcats sophomore defender Tiana McIntyre took a seat in the box for tripping.
Even though RPI was unsuccessful in that it didn’t score a goal, the Engineers held the puck in Quinnipiac’s end of the ice for nearly the entire power play.
“There’s a lot of competition in the lineup so they work hard,” Turner said. “They’re relentless on the puck so we expected the challenge.”
While it wasn’t pretty, with just over seven minutes to go in the period Engineers senior forward Meagan Byrum, while falling down at the red line at a seemingly impossible angle, flung the puck toward the net. The shot snuck under the arm of Angers and RPI was on the board.
Not to be outdone less than a minute later Bobcats junior forward Veronica Bac redirected a shot from sophomore defender Zoe Uens, that slowly dribbled through Keating’s legs to make it 3-1 Bobcats.
Six minutes later, after several threatening opportunities failed to reach Keating sophomore forward Emerson Jarvis beat the freshman one-on-one for her sixth goal of the season.
Following Jarvis’ goal, McIntyre paid another visit to the box, this time for body checking.
Only 53 seconds into the third period McIntrye got the hat trick, making her third visit to the box. After a successful penalty kill, McIntyre didn’t see the ice for the remainder of the game.
Halfway through the period Bobcats senior forward Nina Steigauf took a stick up high, slowly making her way to the bench. After catching her breath Steigauf, who is playing with a broken toe, was back on the ice.
“I deal with injuries after the game,” Steigauf said. “My motto is ‘It’s just pain’… I want to be on the ice and contribute the best way I can.”
While Christof did score in the waning moments of the period, the Bobcats ultimately were winners by a score of 4-2.
Quinnipiac will be back in action on Dec. 9 when they travel to face off against Quinnipiac alum Melissa Samoskevich, who is in her first season as an assistant coach with Princeton.
