LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — With a 2-1 overtime win against Princeton in the ECAC Semifinals, the Quinnipiac Bobcats punched their ticket to the inaugural ECAC Championship in Lake Placid. Here’s how Quinnipiac can add its name to the historic rafters of Herb Brooks Memorial Arena in its final matchup of the season.
SUPPORT FRANK
All season, the Bobcats have relied on ECAC Goalie of the Year sophomore goaltender Felicia Frank in big moments. The ECAC Semifinal was no exception. Late in the third period of play, it seemed like the only Bobcat on their game was Frank, stopping 17 of 18 Tigers’ shots as Quinnipiac’s continuous icings kept tired Bobcats on the ice.
In the closing seconds of the period, it was much of the same for Princeton: complete offensive domination. The Falkoping, Sweden native stood on her head to stop All-ECAC forwards senior Izzy Wunder and sophomore Mackenzie Alexander in the final minutes, while much of the Bobcats’ defense floundered.
“She was there when we needed her to be there,” head coach Cass Turner said. “We definitely, in the last 10 seconds of the third period, made her have to make a really big save. I’d rather that not have to happen, but she’s been there for us.”
Although Turner laughed as she said it, her point remains true. Against a team as talented as Yale, relying solely on a stellar Frank performance won’t cut it. All-ECAC defenders freshman Molly Boyle and senior Gracie Gilkyson, as well as All-ECAC senior forwards Carina DiAntonio and Jordan Ray found the back of the net in Yale’s 7-2 victory over Cornell in the ECAC Semifinals.
Defensively, the Bobcats need to put pressure on those star players. Against Princeton, Quinnipiac was successful in keeping both Wunder and Alexander off the scoresheet. That needs to translate over for the Bobcats to have a chance.
However, support for the Bobcat’s star netminder also comes offensively. Without goal support, beating the Bulldogs will be next to impossible. Last time the two squads faced off, in the regular season finale, Quinnipiac’s stars made the difference in the offensive zone. Junior forward Kahlen Lamarche’s two goals in the closing minutes of play tied and won the contest for the Bobcats.
After an eight-point outing in the semifinal series against Brown, Lamarche was held scoreless against the Tigers.
“It’s just so important,” Turner said. “I think that’s what happens in playoff hockey. They’ve proved to themselves that they can do and they can play whatever way they need to play to win a hockey game.”
COMPOSURE
“I think the main message is just being composed,” graduate student defenseman and captain Mia Lopata said.
It’s a simple message, but if the Bobcats want a chance at the ECAC Championship, that’s the place to start. Sixty minutes of clean, composed hockey.
Quinnipiac has the depth and the talent to win hockey games. However, that talent and depth need to be on its A game for the Bobcats to take victory.
“We don’t need to be perfect to win,” Turner said. “I think sometimes teams can get frozen in that, and I think for us, we need to be more resilient than the other team, and that’s the thing that over the last few weeks we’ve shown game in and game out.”
The resilience was on full display in the Bobcats’ last matchup against the Bulldogs. In the final game of the season with the ECAC Championship on the line for both squads, Quinnipiac rallied from a deficit twice to tie the game in regulation. Despite conceding the conference, the Bobcats would win the game in overtime 4-3, sweeping the Battle of Whitney Ave. for the season.
“We’re going to have to be ready to go. I think having played Yale recently, we know how they can tilt the ice,” Turner said. “We went down and we didn’t like where we sat, but we kept fighting back.”
For the Bobcats, that resilience could prove crucial if the Bulldogs get up early.
DEFENSIVE SCORING
Defensive scoring has been a calling card for the Bobcat side, for good reason. When Quinnipiac gets the defense involved, an offense that could easily become one dimensional is opened up to a whole new world of possibilities.
The lone Quinnipiac assist in last night’s win against Princeton came from the stick of Lopata, who has steadily found her offensive game, especially with the loss of sophomore defenseman and All-ECAC Second Team selection Makayla Watson to injury during the month of February.
“We’re walking up here and Mia Lopata said, well I guess I waited until this point in my career to be offensive, but it seems to be working,” Turner said.
With Watson slotting back in the lineup this weekend, defensive contributions on the offensive end is a must to win the ECAC Championship.
“I’m just so happy to be going to the finals tomorrow with this team, and I’m really pumped for us,” sophomore forward Avery Bairos said.
Quinnipiac’s puck-drop against the Yale Bulldogs is set for 5 p.m in Lake Placid, N.Y.
