Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Matt McAuliffe
ECAC play kicked off on Friday night when the Quinnipiac Bobcats rolled the Yale Bulldogs 4-1 at Ingalls Arena. Yale came in to this game undefeated at 2-0, Quinnipiac came in at 5-2-1 after tying and losing to Boston College the weekend before, looking to get back on the winning track.
The first period was a battle as both teams had their share of scoring opportunities, but the highlight of the period was Quinnipiac’s penalty kill. The Bobcats committed three penalties and killed off all three with ease. During the penalty kill the Bobcats also recorded three blocked shots.
“It’s our face offs and our fore check to really deny entry, and we knew those were the two weaker points of Yale’s power play, we really zeroed in on those things,” head coach Cass Turner said. “The shot blocking is heart. This is ECAC conference play, and our kids want to win.”
The period ended tied 0-0, with Yale leading in shots seven to five.
The second period featured plenty of offense. Quinnipiac’s junior forward T.T. Cianfarano scored on a power play goal early in the period. Yale retaliated with a goal midway through the second by sophomore forward Jordan Chancellor. Throughout the first two periods the penalties continued to pile on. Three more penalties for Quinnipiac and two more for Yale, made it nine total penalties throughout two periods. Then, with under a minute left in the second, Kenzie Lancaster scored her first goal of her career to put the Bobcats up 2-1 to end the second period.
“It felt very good, its been a long time coming, its good to get the monkey off the back, and hopeful things will roll from here,” Lancaster said.
In the third period, the Bobcats continued to display their offensive power as Cianfarano poked her second power play goal of the game in the net.
“Playing wing was an adjustment coming through the week, and I think mentally preparing going from center to wing you don’t have much of a job on the wing, but you still got to keep those pucks down low and not have them get out to your defense,” number 22 said.
The penalty kill continued its success in the third and ended the game killing off every penalty that was committed. The final score put the Bobcats back on the winning trail to improve their overall record to 6-2-1.
The Bobcats will travel to Providence, R.I. on Saturday to take on the Brown Bears in their second conference game.
