What to watch for: Big Green visits Hamden

What to watch for: Big Green visits Hamden

By Mark Spillane, QBSN Staff Writer

The Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s ice hockey team will get back on the ice for the first time since Dec. 10 when the Dartmouth Big Green come to town on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.

This is the first of two meetings between the Bobcats and Big Green this year, with the second one coming in February. Thus far Dartmouth holds the all time series lead 7-3-2, but Quinnipiac has won three of the last four, including a 4-0 victory in the most recent contest last February.

The Bobcats are hoping that they have not lost any momentum during the long layoff, as they had won seven consecutive before the break. With the hot streak, Quinnipiac has surged to the top of the ECAC standings with a 9-2-1 conference record, good for 19 points.

On the other side, Dartmouth ended their break with a 5-2 victory over Vermont on Tuesday, fueled by a goal and two assists from junior forward Camille Dumais.  The Big Green sits in seventh place in the ECAC, but is only four points out of second place.

Each team is beginning a large slate of ECAC games that will all be crucial to the final standings. For Dartmouth, starting with Friday, fourteen of their final fifteen games will be within the conference, with Providence being their only non-ECAC opponent. For the Bobcats, Friday is the first of ten remaining ECAC games, with two matchups coming against Syracuse later this month.

 Keys for Dartmouth:

The keys for Dartmouth are to convert on their power play opportunities and continue its strong penalty killing. On the season, the Big Green has scored on 20 percent of its power place chances in its seven wins, but only on 11 percent in its five losses.  The special teams unit played a large role in the team’s upset over third ranked Cornell, as the Big Green scored two power play goals on five chances. It’s a case that clearly shows when the power play goes, so does Dartmouth. Much like the Quinnipiac men’s squad, the Big Green women are ranked in the top five in the nation on the penalty kill, sitting at third with nearly a 90 percent penalty kill. Those types of numbers will force Quinnipiac’s special teams to play very well in this one.

Keys for Quinnipiac:

The keys for Quinnipiac are to continue limiting shots from the opposition, and continue to finish strong in the third period. During the Bobcats’ seven game winning streak, junior goaltender, Victoria Vigilanti (Woodbridge, Ontario) has been nothing short of incredible, but she has received tremendous help from her defense. Quinnipiac has done a terrific job of back-checking over the past seven games and has limited opponents to less than 25 shots in four of them and less than 30 in six of them. While limiting the opposition’s shots all game long, the Bobcats have done a terrific job of finishing each contest strong. During the win streak, they have notched third period goals in six of the seven battles, while allowing opposing goals just twice in the final stanza. If the Bobcats keep these two themes going, they will find success.

Last Meeting:

The 4-0 shutout victory last February was powered by freshman forward Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario), as she netted two goals, while Vigilanti stopped 35 shots, including 19 in the third period to earn her seventh shutout of the season.