HAMDEN — The offensive stars for No. 6 Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey showed up on Saturday afternoon, as the team defeated the Cornell Big Red 4-0 to complete its third consecutive sweep of conference opponents.
“We’re super happy with the weekend,” head coach Cass Turner said. “I thought our team really had a lot of fight in them today.”
While the final score indicated Bobcat dominance, that was not the story of the first 20 minutes.
Coming off a 6-1 win over No. 7 Princeton, Cornell came into the game with something to prove and played like it. Junior goaltender Annelies Bergman weathered the early offensive storm from Quinnipiac, saving all Bobcat shots in the first 15 minutes of the period.
A few minutes after Quinnipiac’s sixth attempt at Bergman, the Bobcats broke through.
Sophomore forward Avery Bairos broke through the Big Red blue line and connected a pass with sophomore forward Bryn Prier. From just outside Bergman’s crease, Prier jammed the puck past the Michigan native, opening the scoring for the Bobcats.
Less than a minute later, Quinnipiac struck again.
A loose puck off a Big Red stick allowed sophomore center Taylor Brueske, junior forward Kahlen Lamarche and graduate student forward Laurence Frenette to produce a tic‑tac‑toe play, ending with Frenette beating Bergman glove side to further the Bobcat lead.
On the defensive side of the puck, Quinnipiac held the Big Red to eight total shots on net, with sophomore goaltender Felicia Frank saving all of them.
Frank’s dominance continued throughout the following frame. The Sweden native survived several offensive onslaughts from the Big Red, including nine saves in the span of two minutes.
“She’s one of the best goalies in the country,” Turner said. “She’s been a rock for us.”
One of Quinnipiac’s biggest strengths during its seven‑game win streak has been the penalty kill. Dating back to Nov. 22 against Princeton, Quinnipiac has effectively killed 27 straight penalties.
Despite Quinnipiac being down a skater, the Bobcat attack continued to produce at a high level. Senior center Emerson Jarvis poked the puck free and connected on a pass to graduate student defenseman Mia Lopata. Lopata ripped the puck from just shy of the faceoff dot, and it deflected off Bergman’s pad. Prier launched the loose puck into the back of the net, extending the Quinnipiac lead to three.
“I knew I just needed to get into the right spot,” Prier said.
The Big Red came back swinging yet again. They ended a 21‑shot second period with a 1‑on‑1 chance for junior forward Karel Prefontaine that Frank deflected out, keeping the Big Red scoreless.
When asked about her mindset dealing with those situations, Frank kept it simple: “Go with the flow and stay calm.”
The third period was more of the same for Frank and the Bobcat blue line — complete dominance.
Frank continued to grab shot after shot en route to a career‑high 39‑save performance, and her eighth shutout of the year puts her tied for first in the NCAA.
An empty‑net goal from Lamarche iced the game for the Bobcats. Her 30th of the season ties former forward Kelly Babstock ’14 for most goals in a season.
“Kelly’s very excited for her,” Turner said. “She wants to see her break that record.”
Quinnipiac will travel to Potsdam, New York, on Friday, Jan. 30, to face the Clarkson Golden Knights. Puck drop is scheduled for 3 p.m.
