Photo: Ashley Kulik
By: Sierra Goodwill
The Quinnipiac womens ice hockey team shared the wealth when it came to recording points in its 6-3 victory over Yale Saturday afternoon. The Bobcats looked strong moving the puck in the offensive zone all game.
Quinnipiac (4-0-1, 0-0-0 ECAC) faced Whitney Ave. and conference rival Yale (0-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) in a non-conference game. Yale rallied in the first period but ultimately could not match the offensive intensity Quinnipiac brought.
“Our team showed that we have some people who can put the puck in the net,” Quinnipiac head coach Cassandra Turner said. “It’s nice for our players to have confidence that they can score.”
This was Turner’s first game as head coach against Yale and Quinnipiac recorded the most goals scored against Yale in team history.
Nicole Kosta struck first for the Bobcats about 10 minutes into the first period. She was honored before the game for scoring her one-hundredth point. Kosta went on to score a second goal in the first period and get an assist to add three more points to her record.
“I was kind of caught off guard with that little presentation in the beginning, it was really nice. But it was also nice to get those two quick goals and get back into the game,” Kosta said.
The second period was more of the same with Quinnipiac dominating puck possession in the offensive zone. T.T. Cianfarano picked up her fifth goal of the season after Melissa Samoskevich won a two-on-one battle for the puck and set her up right in front of Yale’s goaltender Hanna Mandl.
With that assist, Samoskevich has recorded at least one point in all five games this season. She then scored at the end of the second period with a tap-in at the doorstep of Mandl to put Quinnipiac up 4-2 going into the final 20 minutes.
Yale struggled defensively all afternoon staying on their man-to-man coverage. There were often Quinnipiac players left wide open beneath the hashmarks, which the Bobcats capitalized on.
6:51 into the third, Nicole Connery scored top shelf, unassisted for her second goal of the season. To cap off the scoring for the Bobcats, Raquel Pennoyer picked up her first of the season off of a textbook passing sequence.
Yale’s Janelle Ferrara would score with 1:45 left in the game to cut the lead to 6-3, but Quinnipiac’s offensive threats mixed with Yale’s defensive breakdowns put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.
Quinnipiac kicks off ECAC play Friday, Oct. 30 against Brown in Providence, RI. The Bobcats are looking to remain undefeated and the Bears are looking to clinch their first win of the season.
