Women's hockey stays hot, Vigilanti's sixth shutout

Women’s hockey stays hot, Vigilanti's sixth shutout

By Angelique Fiske, QBSN Web-Editor

After its 1-0 win over Princeton on Friday in which junior goaltender Victoria Vigilanti (Woodbridge, Ontario) recorded her league-leading fifth shutout of the season, the women’s ice hockey team again shut out the Tigers, 3-0.  With this win, the Bobcats have swept yet another ECAC weekend and extended their winning-streak to seven games.  On the way to seven straight, Vigilanti nabbed her 20^th shutout of her career and sixth of the season which leads the NCAA.  The Bobcats now have an overall record of 13-7-1 and 9-2-1 in ECAC Hockey to lead the conference.

Even though the first period ended with no score, it was dominated by Quinnipiac, outshooting Princeton 16-5.  The Bobcats were applying offensive pressure as if the Tiger defense had a fatal wound, but Princeton goalie Rachel Weber denied every attempt.

“We just talked about it in between periods to just assume that [Weber] was going to leave rebounds, and I think that helped us,” said head coach Rick Seeley.

It did not take long into the second period for the in-between-play talks to pay off and the offensive efforts to explode.  Junior Regan Boulton (Brandon, Manitoba) landed a power play goal only five minutes and 24 seconds into the period.  Her shot from between the faceoff circles stayed low, into right side of the net past Weber.  The go-ahead goal makes for Boulton’s fourth score of the season.  The assist was credited to sophomore Erica Uden Johansson. 

A little over three minutes later, junior Brittany Lyons (Canton, Mass.) and senior Kate Wheeler (Oakville, Ontario) made their way down the ice with a series of quick back-and-forth passes.  When Lyons’s pass hit the right boards, Wheeler quickly regained control and sent a pass in front of the Princeton goal.  Lyons knocked it in for her sixth goal of the season.  Along with Wheeler, who earned her first of two assists of the period, senior Chelsea Illchuk also earned a point on the helper. 

The Bobcats waited until the third period to strike again, this time junior Breann Frykas (East St. Paul, Manitoba) came up with the second power play goal of the game.  Wheeler and sophomore Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario) assisted Frykas on the play.

Quinnipiac would hold off the Princeton offense for the remainder of the game with much thanks to Vigilanti, making 21 total saves. 

“My rebound control could have been a bit better, but the defense was there to clear the loose pucks away, so they got the job done,” said Vigilanti of her performance.

In spite of the rebounding, the Tigers could not get it past her, particularly when she is playing to the best of her ability, according to Seeley.

“She’s challenging, and that’s when she’s at her best,” said Seeley.  “She’s getting on her feet, she’s getting up, she’s challenging. I thought she made a few great saves through screens where her legs just came out of nowhere, but when she’s confident, she’s one of the best goalies around.” 

While the Bobcats are on a hot-streak, they have not reached where they want to be.

“The best thing about the streak is that we continue to get better,” said Seeley.  “We’re not satisfied; we’re learning from our mistakes.”

Even though Bobcat fans must wait nearly a month to see if their team can continue its success, when the Bobcats get back in action, they will be immediately tested.  Quinnipiac plays host to Dartmouth on Friday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. and Harvard the following day at 4 p.m.  Both are ECAC games.