PROVIDENCE — Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey capped off a miserable month with a 4-1 loss to Brown on Saturday, extending its winless streak to four for the first time since the beginning of the 2018 season.
It’s hard to frame Quinnipiac’s January in a good light. The Bobcats have taken more losses in the last eight days than in the first three-and-a-half months of the season combined.
“This isn’t where we want to be right now in our season with these losses,” head coach Cass Turner said.
The final score doesn’t accurately reflect how close Saturday’s game actually was, though.
Brown’s third and fourth tallies — both empty-netters — came in the final 63 seconds of the game. So, although Brown led 4-1 when the final buzzer sounded, the Bears never carried more than a one-goal lead when it mattered.
And yet, unlike in other ECAC Hockey matchups, it didn’t necessarily seem to be a close game because both teams were playing well. Rather, it seemed to be close because both teams were playing at a similar level of mediocrity
The Bobcats outshot the Bears 44-18 in October. But on Saturday, Brown put up 29 shots on goal to Quinnipiac’s 23, making it clear from the jump that Quinnipiac’s game was nowhere near where it was three months ago or even three weeks ago.
Even still, both benches seemed to lack offensive cohesion throughout, with neither team managing to find the back of the net for more than 35 minutes.
Bobcats sophomore defender Zoe Uens finally lit the lamp late in the second, her rolling shot from the point tumbling through coverage and in behind Brown senior goaltender Kaley Doyle.
Brown sophomore winger Gali Levy notched the equalizer less than two minutes into the final frame, racking the puck top-shelf from the slot.
Seven minutes later, Bears freshman forward Margot Norehad broke the internet.
Because as if losing four consecutive games wasn’t bad enough, Quinnipiac managed to lose on a Michigan.
Skating the puck into the offensive zone facing a one-on-three, the 5-foot-3-inch winger wrapped around Quinnipiac’s net and backhanded a Michigan over Bobcats graduate student goaltender Logan Angers’ left shoulder.
Turner said it herself: “It was a nice goal.”
After so many back-to-back losses, the Bobcats didn’t seem to have much fighting power left to begin with. But when Norehad’s once-in-a-career shot crossed the goal line, it seemed to drain them of everything they had left.
“We didn’t play together the way we needed to in the third period,” Turner said.
And as the ECAC Hockey playoffs creep ever closer, it’s clear that Quinnipiac can’t afford to continue down this path.
“I think this is a pretty big reflection moment for our team,” Turner said.
The Bobcats will kick off their final home stand series with a Feb. 3 game against Princeton. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m.
