HAMDEN — Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey soared in its exhibition game against cross-state rival UConn, defeating the Huskies in a 3-0 shutout Saturday afternoon. 

For a team finding its identity after a tough loss to Clarkson University in the ECAC quarterfinals last season, it was important for this Quinnipiac squad to show how its hard work in the offseason would manifest in its performance. 

That hard work would translate to the ice quickly. 

Twenty-four seconds into the contest, graduate student winger Laurence Frenette’s backhanded shot from just above the goal line would catch the Huskies puck-watching. The puck, after sailing over the pads of UConn’s goalie graduate student Tia Chan, would land on the stick of junior winger Kahlen Lamarche, who would net a backhander of her own, for Quinnipiac’s first goal of the game. 

“Seeing all the work we’ve put in the past few months, all of us together…a lot of girls, came back this summer and we all worked together. I think it really paid off,” Frenette said.

After the opening minute goal, both teams would settle down significantly, finding their hockey legs after the long offseason.

A roughing penalty on Quinnipiac’s captain, graduate student defender Mia Lopata, would allow the Bobcats’ special teams to get its first test of the season. For a squad whose penalty-kill percentage was a conference-best, 0.886 last season, Quinnipiac would not disappoint, successfully killing off the UConn power play. 

Special teams continued to shine later in the period. After an unsuccessful chance to score on a five on three, it would once again be Lemarche with the impact play. This time it was her shot, partially deflected off a Husky stick, that would miraculously find Frenette. Frenette would jam it home for the goal, earning the top-line wingers their second points of the night. 

Despite a scoreless second for both sides, Quinnipiac would keep the pressure up, killing another UConn power play opportunity to keep the Huskies out of striking distance. Special teams would continue to shine in the final frame, with Quinnipiac converting on its second power play of the afternoon. Senior defender Zoe Uens would capitalize 19 seconds into the squad’s third power play, corralling her own rebound to light the lamp for the final time. 

“Certainly this year we want to score more goals on the power play. It’s an area we’ve been okay in, but we can be better at,” head coach Cass Turner said. “So that’s a big target.”

It wasn’t just the Quinnipiac special teams that shone in this dominant win. Three Quinnipiac goaltenders would combine to earn the squad a shutout. Sophomore netminder Felicia Frank would get the start, with senior Tatum Blacker and senior-transfer Calli Hogarth taking the crease for the second and third period respectively. 

With the farewell of graduate student goaltender Kaley Doyle, who led the ECAC in goals against average, save percentage and shutouts in 2024-25, the Bobcats face the difficult challenge of replacing the star goaltender after her final collegiate season. 

All three goaltenders played well in the Bobcats’ bout against the Huskies, with Hogarth’s timely fourteen saves in the third bringing the shutout home for Quinnipiac, despite mounting pressure from UConn.

“All three of them made some big saves in big moments that we needed,” Turner said. 

For the rest of the Quinnipiac squad, the question of who will get the starting role isn’t at the top of their mind. The team aims to maintain its dominant defensive efforts from the season prior, no matter who’s guarding the net. 

The 2024-25 Bobcats squad allowed the fewest goals in the ECAC last year; the current squad is looking to return to that dominance despite the losses of Kendall Cooper ‘25 and Maddy Samoskevich ‘25, who attended this preseason matchup, to the PWHL. 

“I think no matter who was in net, we felt comfortable as defense,” Uens said. “On the back end, if we mess up, they have our backs.” 

For a team hoping to build upon its strong season last year to earn an NCAA tournament playoff berth, this exhibition win shows great signs of what’s to come for the rest of the Bobcats’ season. 

Quinnipiac will begin the regular season on Sept. 26, taking on the University of Maine Black Bears at home. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.