HAMDEN — Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey skated out on home ice for the final time this season in a 9-0 drubbing of Harvard Saturday afternoon. A dominant 60-minute effort with seven different goal scorers sends the Bobcats on a collision course for a three-game quarterfinal series against No. 4 Cornell next weekend.
Here are five takeaways from the ECAC Tournament opening-round win.
Graduate students skate off home ice with ‘bittersweet’ victory
Forward Alexa Hoskin teared up as she stepped off the ice at M&T Bank Arena for the last time Saturday. For the Bobcats, six graduate students know it’ll be their last time donning the navy and gold in Hamden.
That’s what makes the blowout win so emotional.
“I definitely thought I was tearing up a little bit as we were getting off the ice,” Hoskin said. “But knowing we still have some games to go is really nice.”
Goaltender Logan Angers was nails in net — pitching her sixth shutout of the season — and after spending six seasons in Hamden is feeling all the emotions as her Quinnipiac career comes to an end.
“It’s a bittersweet moment,” Angers said. “You kind of look back at all your time here and think about all the amazing things that’s happened, but also, it’s not the end for us.”
Crimson bleed out
To say Quinnipiac had Harvard’s number this year would be an understatement. In the three games between the teams this season, the Bobcats outscored the Crimson 24-1.
Not exactly a fair fight.
Head coach Cass Turner viewed Saturday’s victory as a big improvement compared to their last matchup on Jan. 12.
“When we played at Harvard, we didn’t manage the puck very well,” Turner said. “It turned (into) breakaways and odd-man rushes. But I thought we managed that well today and I think as a result we ended up having the puck a lot more. So being consistent was really important.”
Two of the top three highest scoring nights of Quinnipiac’s season have come against Harvard — whose season came to an end with the loss.
Clean sheet
A large part of the Bobcats’ success came from staying out of the box. In fact it’s the first time all season that they haven’t committed a penalty.
“Our game keys (are, be) disciplined, stay out of the box, you need to be in that position and it’s gonna continue to be really important,” Turner said. “We have a great (penalty kill), a great goalie who can really help us in the PK, but if we can find ourselves out of the box, that’s where we want to be.”
Being at full strength throughout all three frames allowed Quinnipiac to constantly keep Harvard on its heels. The Bobcats fired 42 shots on goal compared to the Crimson’s 19.
At least for the day, it looked like Quinnipiac was playing its best — and cleanest — hockey of the season.
“They’re prepared,” Turner said. “They’re confident. They know what it looks like in the playoffs. They know what it feels like to win, what it’s going to take to win and the composure that you need.”
Depth shines
The nine-goal explosion allowed the Bobcats to flash off some of their depth, with seven different goal scorers and 12 different players from all years cashing in on the scoring sheet.
“It always tends to be that way in the playoffs,” Turner said. “(Junior forward Veronica Bac) got that first one for us and (senior forward Sophie Urban) the second one. It’s just being relentless in our mentality and playing a team game. And when you play that way, it could be anybody who puts the puck in the net and I think that was great to see that today.”
Quinnipiac didn’t take its foot off the pedal either, with four goals coming in the third period when the game was already wrapped with a bow.
All eyes on Cornell
Now the playoffs really begin for Quinnipiac, who will head to Ithaca, New York for a three-game series against Cornell.
The Bobcats split the two-game season series with Big Red, their win coming on the road in Ithaca on Nov. 17.
“It’s gonna be a battle,” Turner said. “Look at the games we’ve played against them. They have a great first line. (Senior forward) Izzy Daniel is a tough player to contain, and that’s going to be really important for us. They have a really deep defensive core … They play very physical, so it’s gonna be fun.”
Cornell will be well rested come next weekend, having received a first-round bye for finishing in the top four in the ECAC.
Puck drop for game one is set for March 1 at 3 p.m.
