ITHACA, N.Y. — Facing elimination from the ECAC Tournament, it was a win-or-go-home Game 2 for Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey. But midway through Cornell’s 5-0 clobbering of the Bobcats on Saturday, the Big Red’s pep band was already chanting, “Warm up the bus!” 

The quarterfinal series did a complete 180 between Friday and Saturday, going from nail-biting in Game 1 to Quinnipiac nailing its own coffin shut in Game 2. 

Here’s a rundown of everything that went wrong for the Bobcats on Saturday:

Their offense was largely nonexistent. 

As if being shut out wasn’t bad enough, Quinnipiac only managed to put up 11 shots on goal in Game 2. 

That’s not only the lowest shot count of the season, it’s the lowest shot count of the last five seasons — the Bobcats haven’t recorded fewer shots on goal since October 2018.

And, for perspective, the Bobcats actually outshot the Big Red in Game 1 (33-29).

“We didn’t get the same o-zone sustained pressure the way we did (in Game 1),” Turner said. “And I think that helped them to build momentum.”

Quinnipiac recorded nearly three times as many shot attempts as shots on goal on Saturday (32), but seven were off-target and the rest were blocked. To add insult to injury, none of the resulting 11 scoring chances were particularly memorable. 

Cornell’s defense simply had Quinnipiac’s number on Saturday, and the score proves that.

Their neutral-zone play lacked coordination.

The puck never got anywhere near Cornell freshman goaltender Annelies Bergman for a reason: the Bobcats couldn’t break into the offensive zone.

Of course, part of that can be attributed to Cornell’s efficient backcheck. 

“I think, over two days, they just kept gaining momentum,” Turner said. “They played a great game today.”

But Quinnipiac’s neutral-zone miscues certainly didn’t help matters. 

The Bobcats were constantly tied up between the blue lines on the forecheck, and they very rarely came away from those scrums with the puck. 

Even when they did, their characteristically crisp passing was MIA. An offense-killing combination of poorly timed, poorly placed and poorly managed passes meant the puck usually ended up — in one way or another — heading in the other direction on a Big Red stick.

And with that, Cornell scored two of its five goals on odd-man rushes that stemmed directly from Quinnipiac’s poor backchecking.

Their defense collapsed under pressure. 

The Bobcats — unable to stave off Cornell’s dominant forecheck — found themselves backed into their own zone pretty much all game. 

In a lopsided game of keep-away, the Big Red turned Quinnipiac’s zone into a firing range. Cornell attempted more shots than there were minutes in the game (62), 37 of which found their way to Bobcats graduate student goaltender Logan Angers. 

Considering Quinnipiac allowed so many shot attempts, it wasn’t blocking very many. Despite facing nearly double the number of attempted shots as Cornell (62-32), the Bobcats recorded less than half as many shot blocks as the Big Red (6-14). 

Defensive struggles muted any ounce of momentum the Bobcats created on Saturday, and they usually came back to haunt them on the scoreboard. 

Their penalty box was a revolving door. 

There’s another reason the Bobcats couldn’t get out of their own zone: they couldn’t stay out of the box.

“I think we got a little bit panicked and found ourselves in the box,” Turner said. “Cornell just kept their feet moving and they made us uncomfortable.”

Coming into Saturday’s game, Quinnipiac hadn’t committed a penalty in over 120 minutes of play — its most recent coming in the third period against Union on Feb. 17.

And yet, between hooks and trips, the Bobcats racked up five penalties on Saturday and spent a sixth of the game in the sin bin. To Quinnipiac’s credit, though, none of Cornell’s goals came on the power play.

What’s next?

Well, it’s a waiting game from here. The Bobcats still have a chance — albeit a slim one — of making the NCAA Tournament, but they have to wait for the NCAA Selection Show on March 10 to see where they fall in the national rankings.

“It’s not where you want to be,” Turner said. “I wish it was something different, but I’d rather have this opportunity than nothing at all.”