No. 9 Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey dropped the second half of its New York road trip, falling to the Colgate Raiders 2-1 in overtime Saturday afternoon. The loss moves Quinnipiac to 14-5-1 on the year and 5-4 in conference play.
Although the score was tied at zero by the end of the first period, Quinnipiac was in control for nearly all of the first 20 minutes of play.
The best Bobcat chance came early into the first. Senior center Emerson Jarvis would use her lightning fast speed to make her way past the Raider blue line, dishing the puck out to sophomore forward Taylor Brueske. She attempted to squeeze the puck past sophomore goaltender Farrah Walker, but failed as the puck would deflect off of Walker’s stick.
On the defensive side of the puck, sophomore goaltender Felicia Frank would follow up last night’s shutout performance with a period of lockdown goaltending. Frank would save all five shots the Raiders put on her.
The second frame opened with a power play less than a minute in. Junior forward Emma Paris would be called for a high sticking penalty, and the Bobcats would go on the man advantage. Like most Bobcat power plays, there was no shortage of shots. But Walker would continue to grab and cover pucks left and right to keep Quinnipiac out of the net.
The Bobcats would continue to struggle on the power play in the second, as freshman forward Dorothy Copetti would be sent to the box for a roughing penalty. Despite the offensive onslaught by Quinnipiac, they would be kept out of the goal once again by Walker.
Immediately after the squads returned to full strength, Colgate would find an opening. Freshman forward Emma Beauchamp would find herself with nothing but open ice in front of her. She would rip a shot from just in front of the crease, but Frank would deflect it out and keep the game scoreless as time expired.
Four minutes into the final period, Quinnipiac would create yet another offensive scramble in front of Walker. The puck would be loose with Walker down on the ice and unable to get a glove on it.
When the Raiders were finally able to clear the puck out of their defensive zone, senior defenseman Ava Svejkovsky found the stick of Pais who would take care of the rest. Pais would weave her way through the Bobcat defense and snipe the puck past Frank, giving the Raiders the lead early in the frame.
Despite the momentum-shifting goal, the Bobcats wouldn’t stay down for long.
Junior forward Kahlen Lamarche would find herself behind the last line of the Raider defense with the puck on her stick. With nobody in front of her, the nation’s leading goal scorer would use her fancy footwork to find the back of the net, tying the game at one apiece.
The score would stay knotted at one for the remainder of regulation, as neither team found the back of the net in the final 10 minutes.
The overtime period saw a shift in momentum to the home team. The Raiders won the opening draw and would hold onto the puck for a majority of the five minute period.
With less than a minute to go, Walker would stop yet another Bobcat chance, leaving the door open for senior forward Alyssa Biederman to find fellow senior forward Sara Stewart driving into the offensive end. Stewart would beat sophomore defenders Ella Sennick and Makayla Watson and then Frank, icing the game and giving the Raiders the 2-1 win.
The Bobcats return to action Jan. 2 against the Boston University Terriers in Belfast, Northern Ireland as a part of the inaugural Friendship Series. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m.
