After what appeared to be a promising start to a weekend series against No. 9 Clarkson, Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey could not find the light at the end of the tunnel; losing 4-1 to the Golden Knights in the third game of the ECAC Quarterfinals.
Luck looked to be on the Bobcats’ side after pulling off an impressive 3-1 victory in the opening game of the quarterfinals. Senior forward Laurence Frenette led the charge for the Bobcats, scoring two powerplay goals, with senior forward Maya Labad solidifying the win.
Pulling off such a win would give Quinnipiac the momentum they needed to pull off an upset against a tough ECAC opponent.
Or so you would think.
And while junior defensemen Zoe Uens gave Quinnipiac the lead in the final seconds of the first period in game two, Quinnipiac’s momentum would not last for long.
Quinnipiac’s main opponent in the series would not be Clarkson, but the penalties the Bobcats took. Penalties were costly for the Bobcats during the second and third games of the series.
In its 2-1 loss against Clarkson, a Bobcat body checking penalty on freshman defenseman Makayla Watson, gave the Golden Knights the opportunity to tie the game — which they took. Additionally, a hooking call, in the final seconds of the second period, against Quinnipiac gave Clarkson all the momentum they needed going into the final 20 minutes.
Despite Clarkson not scoring on the man advantage, their advantage over Quinnipiac gave them all the momentum they needed for graduate student forward Caroline Goffredo to call the game.
Penalties continued to plague the Bobcats, with yet another body checking call.
The man advantage gave Clarkson a two goal lead over Quinnipiac going into the third period. A defect that would prove to be hard for the Bobcats to come out of. A complete 180 from what Quinnipiac had been experiencing in the last couple of matchups of the regular season.
In the last two games of the regular season against RPI and Union, Quinnipiac went 6 for 7 on the penalty kill.
“Our PK has a lot of confidence right now, they have been there when we needed them,” head coach Cass Turner said after Quinnipiac’s 7-1 win over RPI on Feb. 14.
Despite its ECAC Tournament run coming to an end, Quinnipiac’s season may not be over — or so they hope.
As of publication, the Bobcats sit No. 10 in the Pairwise, and await to face their NCAA Tournament fate. Selection Sunday, on March 9, will determine whether Quinnipiac goes to the national tournament or not.
Eleven teams make the national tournament and with Quinnipiac’s current rank, they fall in a risky spot. The Bobcats, at the time of publication, sit only 0.556 ahead of No. 12 UConn in the Pairwise. UConn is still alive in the Hockey East semifinals, facing off against No. 14 Northeastern.
Quinnipiac’s last run in the NCAA Tournament was in 2023, where the Bobcats lost in the semi-finals to Ohio State.
As of publication, four Hockey East Teams — Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern and UConn — are all behind Quinnipiac and still alive. Additionally, the NEWHA tournament is still ongoing, meaning that the conference winners are going to take the final two spots.
This gives Quinnipiac little wiggle room to move up in the Pairwise, more than likely meaning it won’t land a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
And so the waiting game begins.
