HAMDEN — No. 7 Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey is characterized by its offensive prowess. From the opening puck drop, the team starts out red hot, trying to capitalize on its opponent not being completely settled yet.
The Bobcats 8-0 win over the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers proved exactly that.
Quinnipiac entered the day 10-1-0 on the season, having beat the Union Chargers 6-1 the prior night.
Right out of the gate, the Bobcats came out swinging. Senior defenseman Zoe Uens ripped a wrist shot just shy of the blue line, in the RPI end with the puck landing past junior goaltender Reese Keating, giving the Bobcats the lead less than two minutes into the game
“Anytime you score first, the momentum is going to be there,” Uens said.
The Bobcats would carry that momentum into another scoring chance halfway into the period. After the Engineers won a faceoff in their defensive end, senior center Emerson Jarvis took the puck from Engineer senior defender Sophia Jones, and the rest was history. Jarvis found an opening to the left of Keating and netted her sixth goal of the year, giving the Bobcat a two goal lead.
Wrapping up the Bobcat scoring was freshman forward Ella Johnson. The Alaskan would receive the faceoff and weave her way through defenders finding the upper right hand corner of the net, giving Johnson her first collegiate goal and furthering the Quinnipiac lead.
“It was incredible,” Johnson said. “I know my teammates were so happy for me.”
RPI continued to struggle into the second period. Particularly, the power play was a point of focus for the Engineers, as the team was sent to the box six times in the second frame. The first penalty came two minutes into the second period when Engineer junior defender Kendall Davidson was called for body checking.
Twenty-five seconds into the power play, sophomore winger Bryn Prier would find the red hot junior forward Kahlen Lamarche right in front of the net. Lamarche would use her crafty footwork to find an opening, netting the Bobcats fourth goal of the game and her third of the weekend.
Speaking of “red-hot”, senior center Tessa Holk would get in on the scoring next. Following a five-minute major on Engineer senior forward Kyley Toye, the Bobcats would go on yet another power play.
With two and a half minutes left to go in the power play, sophomore defender Ansley D’Ottavio found Holk on a backdoor pass which she would send into the net for her fourth goal of the weekend.
With Davidson in the box for cross checking, the Bobcats would go on their seventh power play of the game.
Fifteen seconds into the power play, Lamarche would rip the puck into the net for her second of the game, extending Quinnipiac’s lead to 6-0 over RPI.
On the opposite side of the puck, sophomore goaltender Felicia Frank continued to dominate. In the opening 20 minutes, Frank stopped all five of RPI’s shots. In the second, the Sweden native faced three shots from the Engineers, saving all of them.
For Quinnipiac, the final frame began with more of the same play. Three minutes in, Uens would pick up a deflection from freshman forward Lincoln Brown and net her second of the game, furthering the lead to seven.
Despite the score, Quinnipiac’s offense remained relentless. Halfway through the third Lamarche would receive a pass from Holk just past the blue line. Using her sharp footwork and foxy stickwork, she would snipe another goal past an outstretched Keating into the net, capping off her third hat trick of the season.
This would be the final goal on either side as Frank would keep the Engineers out of the net, securing her third shutout of the year.
“Nice to get two ECAC wins,” head coach Cass Turner said. “Every point in this league, like always, is going to be really important.”
The Bobcats return to action next Friday against the St. Lawrence Saints on Nov. 7. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. in Hamden.
