Quinnipiac goalie Victoria Vigilanti proved that the “sophomore slump” doesn’t apply to everyone Saturday. In women’s ice hockey’s home opener, Vigilanti made 27 saves, leading the Bobcats to a 4-0 victory over the Northeastern University Huskies.
“She’s just picked up where she left off last year,” Quinnipiac head coach Rick Seeley said. “She’s got an unbelievable save percentage; she’s got two shutouts in four games. You can’t ask for anything more from a goalie. That’s a good season for some goalies.”
With Vigilanti dominating the net and her defense blocking shots, the Bobcats opened up the shooting on Huskies goalie Florence Schelling.
Freshmen forwards Kelly Babstock and Erica Uden Johansson each tallied two points in the first two periods. Babstock scored the first goal of the game when Schelling moved away from the net to clear the puck. Coming straight at her, Babstock picked up the puck and sent it into the bottom-left corner of the net.
Babstock picked up her second point on a goal by Uden Johansson, giving the Bobcats a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period. Babstock passed from the right side of the net to Uden Johansson, who one-touched the puck in from the left.
“It’s really a testament to how good of a hockey player she is,” Seeley said of Babstock. “We knew coming in that she was going to be an asset to the team. We expect every freshman to work their way into it and she’s just stepped in. She’s the head of the team right off the bat.”
At the 10:37 mark of the second period, the Bobcats scored their third goal on power play. From the top of the circle to the right of the net, junior captain Jordan Elkins shot the puck over Schelling’s shoulder and into the top-right corner of the net.
The Bobcats’ fourth and final goal came on the power play 18:45 into the second period when junior forward Kate Wheeler picked up the puck off of a shot by sophomore Regan Boulton. Uden Johansson was also credited with the assist for her second point of the game.
“We created a lot of offensive opportunities, but I thought we were just solid defensively and shut them down,” Seeley said.
While the forwards and the defense continued to score goals, Vigilanti continued to protect the net. In the first and second periods, she saved 10 shots each and then added seven more in the third.
“People talk about the sophomore slump,” Vigilanti said, “but, clearly it’s not coming from me this year, so I’m going to just keep it up and hopefully there’s plenty more shutouts to come this year.”
The Bobcats sailed to a 4-0 win over the Huskies, bringing Quinnipiac’s record to 3-0 and dropping Northeastern’s to 1-1-1.
The Bobcats travel to Maine Friday to take on the University of Maine in a two-game series.
Photo credit: Matt Eisenberg
