Bobcats aim to end skid against Colgate

Bobcats aim to end skid against Colgate

By Kevin Noonan, QBSN Staff Writer

The Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s ice hockey team (13-9-2, 9-4-2 ECAC) continues its weekend series in upstate New York with a 4 p.m. match-up against the Colgate Raiders (8-13-1, 3-7-1 ECAC) at Starr Rink in Hamilton, N.Y.  Quinnipiac is currently tied with Cornell for first place of the ECAC with 20 points, while Colgate is in the bottom third of the conference with seven points.

The Bobcats have struggled to start the second half of the season after winning seven straight to close out the 2011 calendar year.  Quinnipiac has showed flashes of brilliance and resilience in 2012, but not nearly as much as during the streak.

Quinnipiac’s Last Game:

On Friday night, Quinnipiac was defeated by the #3/3 Cornell Big Red 4-1.  The Bobcats jumped out to a 1-0 only 21 seconds into the game after the one-timer by senior Kate Wheeler (Oakville, Ontario) for her fourth goal of the season.  Sophomore Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario) was credited with her 15^th assist of the season after her shot was redirected by Big Red netminder Lauren Slebodnick. 

The score remained the same until Cornell scored their first of four unanswered goals three minutes and 41-seconds into the second period.  Jillian Saulnier of Cornell hit the slap-shot past Quinnipiac’s junior goaltender Victoria Vigilanti (Woodbridge, Ontario).  At the halfway mark of second period, Catherine White lit the lamp with a one-timer off the pass from Lauriane Rougeau to put the Big Red up for good at 2-1.  Two minutes later, Rougeau assisted another goal, this time to Brianne Jenner who scored from the wing.  A power-play goal in the third period by Jessica Campbell made the lead 4-1, where it would stay for good.  

Vigilanti had 17 saves on 21 shots and gave up three or more goals for the third straight game.  Slebodnick of Cornell kept her record perfect on the season (8-0-0) by stopping 20 of Quinnipiac’s 21 shots.    

Colgate’s Last Game:

There was plenty of scoring in the Colgate Raiders match-up with the Princeton Tigers on Friday night.  Princeton scored five of the first seven goals in the game.  Denna Laing and Corey Stearns of the Tigers each scored a goal in the first period 36-seconds apart to quickly put Princeton up 2-0. 

The Raiders were unable to retaliate until just over seven minutes into the third period when Brittany Phillips scored a goal to cut the lead in half.  Miriam Drubel scored a goal for the second straight game to tie up the game at 2-2.  The Tigers then scored three goals within two minutes of each other to put the game out of reach for the Raiders. 

By the 17:46 mark of the final period, Paula Romanchuk scored on a power-play goal, Sally Butler notched a goal, and Alex Kinney scored on an empty net to extend the lead to 5-2.  With 32-seconds remaining in the game, Rachel Walsh of Colgate scored a power-play goal, but the game was too far out of reach for the Raiders. 

Princeton Goaltender Rachel Weber had 24 saves on 27 shots while her counterpart Kimberly Sass stopped 27 of the 31 shots she faced.

Keys for the Bobcats:

Quinnipiac needs to take a deep breath and find the inner-strength to overcome this second-half struggle.  The Bobcats have not won a game in 2012 after going on a seven-game winning streak.  Vigilanti had not allowed a goal in the entire month of December, and now she has allowed 10 goals in three January games.  She needs to step up her game or head coach Rick Seeley may have to consider playing freshman Chelsea Laden (Lakeville, Minn.) in net to change the current pace of the team.  If the Bobcats can score early and often, and then manage to hold on to the lead against the Raiders, they should be in good shape to win.  Quinnipiac is overdue for a victory.

Keys for the Raiders:

Colgate has struggled in the ECAC all season long, only managing three wins.  The Raiders have not found momentum as of late, being unable to put together consecutive victories since early in the season.  The defensive end is what is killing the Raiders.  In the last six losses, Colgate has allowed three or more goals in each game.  If they can keep the Bobcats to one or two goals, look for Colgate to be able to squeak out at least one point from the game.  Goaltender Kimberly Sass allowed three goals in two minutes in the third period against Princeton after Colgate came back to tie the game.  If she can avoid a meltdown like this, Colgate may earn a point from the game. 

Last Meeting:

Quinnipiac soundly defeated the Colgate Raiders 6-2 in their previous meeting at the High Point Solutions Arena in the TD Bank Sports Center.  Kelly Babstock led the Bobcats with two goals and two assists while freshman Nicole Kosta (Mississauga, Ontario) notched a goal and two assists of her own.  The two teams skated to a scoreless first period.  Babstock then scored the first goal of the game midway through the second period.  The Raiders retaliated with their only two goals of the game, coming 24-seconds apart.  Drubel and Jocelyn Simpson scored for Colgate.  Quinnipiac then scored five unanswered goals heading to the 6-2 victory.  Juniors Regan Boulton (Brandon, Manitoba), Brittany Lyons (Canton, Mass.) and Breann Frykas (East St. Paul, Manitoba) also scored goals for Quinnipiac.  Vigilanti got the win for the Bobcats stopping 25 of the 27 shots.  Sass was the goaltender for the defeated Raiders, getting 33 saves on 39 shots.