HAMDEN – After 55 days away from home ice, No. 6 Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey made its triumphant return to Hamden, taking care of the Dartmouth Big Green 4-0 Friday night. The win marks the Bobcats fourth straight victory, with three coming against conference opponents.
“I liked how our team played today,” head coach Cass Turner said. “Dartmouth is a team that’s hard to play against.”
In the eight games on the road, the Bobcats have relied heavily on their offense to bury opponents, scoring 24 goals during that span. Leading the team in that scoring onslaught is junior forward Kahlen Lamarche with 25 goals on the season, entering Friday’s game.
It didn’t take long into the first period for Lamarche to make her presence felt.
Two minutes into the opening frame, graduate student forward Laurence Frenette connected with Lamarche right outside the crease of sophomore goaltender Michaela Hesová. The Prague, Czech Republic native would block her first attempt, but Lamarche would bury the rebound for her 26th goal of the year.
“We wanted to get to a quick start from the beginning because we know these teams are gritty and they come up with wins one way or another,” Lamarche said.
Lamarche’s linemate Frenette would get in on the scoring next.
With freshman center Nikita Danchak in the box for a hooking penalty, the Bobcats found themselves on the man advantage in the closing minutes of the period. Skating near the goal line, Frenette would thread the needle past Hesová. The loose puck would hit off the skate of the goaltender and into the back of the net.
After a near silent opening frame from Dartmouth, the Big Green offense slowly began stirring to life in the second.
In the final seconds of the period, Dartmouth was well into its second power play of the game. The Big Green would test sophomore goaltender Felicia Frank for the first time in the entire contest.
A blue line wrist shot from senior defender Izee Powell would be the best chance Dartmouth would have, but Frank would continue her goaltending dominance, keeping the Big Green out of the back of the net.
In the final second of the Dartmouth power play, the Bobcats were able to create offense. On a two-on-one breakaway driving deep into the offensive zone, freshman forward Ella Johnson would connect with Lamarche, and the Sudbury, Ontario native would snipe the puck into the back of the net to extend her goal total to 27 on the year.
“She’s shooting with ease,” Turner said. “She really believes in her ability to put the puck in the back of the net.”
The short-handed goal would cap off the 19th straight sucessful Bobcat penalty kill, stretching all the way back to Nov. 22 against the Princeton Tigers. Turner credits that success to the work of assistant coach Amanda Alessi.
“She’s so great at understanding what the other team is trying to do,” Turner said.
30 seconds later, senior center Emerson Jarvis would get in on the scoring fun. The transfer from the Ohio State University would use her lightning fast speed to take the puck from the neutral zone all the way around Hesová’s net. Jarvis would find an opening on the wrap around and bury her 12th goal of her senior campaign.
That 4-0 score would hold for the remainder of the game, solidifying the Bobcat’s 18th win of the season. The win also marked Frank’s nation leading seventh shutout of the year.
The Bobcats return to action Saturday, Jan. 17 against the Harvard University Crimson. Puck drop from Hamden is scheduled for 3 p.m.
