By: Tom Krosnowski
Sometimes in sports, the better team doesn’t win.
On Friday night, the Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team was the better team on the ice.
But it didn’t win.
Quinnipiac fell 1-0 to the Dartmouth Big Green at the TD Bank Sports Center, but the loss wasn’t for a lack of opportunity.
In a frustrating evening of ECAC Hockey for head coach Cassandra Turner and company, Quinnipiac outshot Dartmouth by a whopping 61-16 margin. The Bobcats attempted 122 shots, 38 of which were blocked by the Big Green defense. And as for the 61 shots that made it through? Dartmouth Junior goalie Christine Honor had all the answers, setting an NCAA Women’s record for saves.
“Today was a weird game for us,” Turner said. “We had a ton of opportunities, we hit a number of posts, and we just weren’t able to put the puck in the back of the net.”
Still, Turner was quick to point out the positives from the Bobcats’ game.
“I actually think this is the best game we’ve played in a lot of ways,” Turner said. “The way we broke the puck out, the way we transitioned in the neutral zone, the way we supported the puck in the offensive zone – we hadn’t done any of those things yet. We hadn’t played with that sort of confidence with the puck yet.”
The loss is a rude awakening for the Bobcats though, who learned firsthand that even their very best effort isn’t enough to beat some ECAC foes in conference play.
“Dartmouth was outstanding in terms of how they fought to block shots,” Turner said. “That’s a lot of heart and a lot of battle and it says a lot about what the ECAC play is going to be about. People come to play in our conference.”
Quinnipiac forward Melissa Samoskevich was all over the puck on Friday night. She fired off 10 shots, and hit at least one post.
“We played very good hockey tonight,” the Bobcats junior co-captain said. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get the bounces we wanted.”
Still without a goal on the season, Samoskevich is staying upbeat.
“As I’ve matured, [having a goalless drought] doesn’t get on my back as much as it used to. I know it’s going to come,” she said. “It would be better if it came sooner than later, but you can’t get frustrated, because that’s when it doesn’t come.”
The Bobcats’ top forward line compiled 25 shots on goal, nearly half the teams total shots. And Turner was encouraged with how the unit played.
“They can be dominant, and they showed that at times,” Turner said. “They are hungry to score, and they are not happy that they didn’t score. They want to find ways to create more second shots and to finish on them.”
It is a short turnaround for the Bobcats, as they host the Harvard Crimson in another crucial ECAC game Saturday at 3:00 p.m. It’s the second of eight consecutive conference matchups for the Bobcats, who will look to pick up their first ECAC victory.
