HAMDEN — In a close, back and forth game, Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey defeated the Northeastern University Huskies 4-2 Saturday afternoon.
The win keeps the Bobcats perfect on the year and extends their win streak to eight in a row on the season.
This also completes their sweep of the Huskies as their final nonconference opponent, taking Friday’s contest 5-3.
The first period began, and the Bobcats came out struggling. Quinnipiac’s high powered, lightning fast offense came to a screeching halt, with Northeastern effectively neutralizing the Quinnipiac attack.
The Bobcats were held to seven shots in the first period, with their best chances coming from freshman forward Ella Johnson and sophomore forward Avery Bairos. Both attempts came before the 10 minute mark.
Defense continued to be a problem for Quinnipiac. Silly mistakes forced sophomore goaltender Felicia Frank to flash the webbing early for Quinnipiac. Frank would save all 11 shots on goal she faced in the first period, keeping the score tied at zero heading into the first intermission.
In the second frame, Northeastern came out swinging.
Two minutes into the period, Northeastern senior defender Jules Constantinople would take the puck down to the Bobcat end. She would skate to the left of the net, and make a cross ice pass to sophomore forward Éloïse Caron, who would get the puck past Frank for the first goal of the game.
Quinnipiac would respond five minutes later with a goal of its own. With the puck just shy of the left faceoff circle in the attacking end, sophomore defender Ansley D’Ottavio would send a shot to Husky freshman goalie Renne Trembecky.
While in the air, junior forward Kahlen Lamarche, who had four goals in Friday’s win, would deflect the puck past Trembecky and into the net, tying the game at one apiece.
After Frank saved shots from sophomore defender Tuva Kandell and graduate student forward Jaden Bogdon, play was stopped. Junior Husky forward Ally Lalonde won the faceoff against senior Bobcat center Tessa Holk and would send the puck to Kendell just shy of the attacking blue line.
Kandell would send a wrist shot to the crease, Frank would deflect it, and Lalonde would put away the deflection, giving Northeastern a 2-1 lead.
Both teams would have a few more solid chances, but the score would remain deadlocked heading into the final period of play.
“We weren’t playing as confident as we needed to,” head coach Cass Turner said.
After struggling to get going for the first 40 minutes of play, Quinnipiac opened the final period feeling like its usual selves.
Five minutes into the period, the Bobcats would have another faceoff in the attacking end. Holk would get the better of Lalonde this time around, winning the faceoff and sending the puck to Lamarche.
From top of the left faceoff circle, Lamarche would rip a snap shot off Trembecky’s glove and into the back of the net, tying the game at two goals apiece heading into the last ten minutes of play.
With the game tied and momentum on their side, Quinnipiac continued the pressure, forcing Trembecky to make save after save to keep the Huskies in the game.
With less than two minutes to go, the Bobcat defense would stop another attempt in their home end. Graduate student forward Laurence Frenette would split two Husky defenders and find Lamarche in the attacking end.
With no one in front of her, Lamarche would complete her second hat trick in as many games, sneaking it past Trembecky and giving the Bobcats a 3-2 lead. This goal would also seal Lamarche’s name in the record books, making her the first athlete since 2018 with seven goals in one weekend.
“I kept thinking ‘Don’t miss the net,” Lamarche said. “It was a nice pass from (Frenette) and it all started from there.”
An empty net goal from senior forward Emerson Jarvis would round out the scoring for the Bobcats, as they held on to finalize their eighth straight win with a final score of 4-2.
“That was a huge character building win for us this weekend,” Turner said. “It’s a big moment for this team.”
Quinnipiac enters conference play next weekend, taking on the Yale Bulldogs Friday, Oct. 24. Puckdrop is set from New Haven at 6 p.m.
