HAMDEN — The No. 7 Quinnipiac Bobcats and St. Lawrence Saints are two teams that always put on a great game. It doesn’t matter the year, roster or location, the Bobcats and the Saints always go to war, fighting to see who comes out on top.
Friday night was no different, as the Bobcats defeated the Saints in a back-and-forth battle 3-2 in overtime. The win advances them to 12-1-0 on the year, giving them their fourth win in ECAC play.
“This was a typical Quinnipiac vs St. Lawrence game,” head coach Cass Turner said. “They always throw everything they can at you.”
From opening puck drop, the Bobcats stuck to their playbook, coming out of the gate hot and fast. Three minutes into the opening period, senior center Tessa Holk poked the puck out from the boards,finding junior forward Kahlen Lamarche on a cross ice pass. With nothing but an open net in front of her. Lamarche would quickly net her first of the game, and No. 18 on the season.
Despite Lamarche having the lone goal of the period, the Quinnipiac offense would keep up the pace and continue making junior goaltender Kassidy Lawrence fight to keep the Saints in the game.
On the flip side of the puck, the young Bobcat defense showed up. In the opening frame, the Bobcat squad held St. Lawrence to only a single shot, which sophomore goaltender Felicia Frank would save with ease.
Three and a half minutes into the second frame, lightning struck twice. Graduate student forward Laurence Frenette batted down the airborne puck onto the stick of fellow linemate Holk. In a near identical fashion to the first goal, Holk would find Lamarche on a cross ice pass, and Lamarche would snipe the puck into the back of the net, for No.19 of the season and the Bobcats’ second of the game.
For the line of Lamarche, Frenette and Holk, this is just the latest product of their growth and development as a group.
“Talking to them to get to know them off the ice has helped us grow as a line,” Holk said.
The defense that worked as a unit in the first struggled in the second. Frank was able to keep the Saints out of the net, but she had to work for it as St. Lawrence was able to put nine shots on net.
But when it hit the final frame, Quinnipiac looked like a completely different team. The Bobcat attack that had thrived in the first forty minutes came out flat in the third period. The team struggled to create opportunities and failed to capitalize on the opportunities they had.
On the defensive side, the Bobcats continued to struggle against a rejuvenated Saints attack. In the opening minutes of the final frame, freshman forward Brooke Mulvihill ripped a shot off the hand of sophomore defender Aynsley D’Ottavio. From there, the puck would find freshman defender Hayden Summers, who got the puck past Frank and into the net.
In the closing minutes of the period, the Saints would strike again. St. Lawrence would take advantage of a 3-on-2, and with a few back-and-forth passes with freshman forward Hanna Olson, senior forward Kiley Mastel would snipe the puck past Frank, tying the game at two.
That score would hold for the remainder of regulation, as for the second time this year, the Bobcats headed into overtime.
When the puck dropped in the extra frame, Quinnipiac would dominate. St. Lawrence would have one solid shot, but a defensive blunder from the Saints would allow the puck to find the stick of Holk. Holk would send the shot into the net, walking off the Saints and giving Quinnipiac the 3-2 win.
“When I got that in, I was so grateful,” Holk said. “It was an amazing goal.”
The Bobcats return to action on Saturday, Nov. 8, against the Clarkson Golden Knights. Puck drop is set from Hamden for 3 p.m.
