The No. 4/2 Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey team hit the ice Friday evening on the hunt for three critical ECAC Hockey points. 

The race in the conference standings is tightening, as the gap between the first-place Bobcats and the Yale Bulldogs narrows. However, Quinnipiac came up big in the first half of their upstate New York road trip, downing No. 5/5 Colgate in a dramatic finish.

After forty minutes of back-and-forth hockey that resulted in a scoreless stalemate, Quinnipiac was able to get on the board with a tally from Nina Steigauf early in the third period. 

Colgate’s captain Danielle Serdachny responded with a goal in the last five minutes to tie the game, but Quinnipiac goaltender Logan Angers pushed the game to overtime by standing on her head to survive the offensive pressure mounted by the maroon and white.

Thirty-one seconds into the extra frame, it was all but academic for Olivia Mobley, who scored her twelfth of the year and second overtime goal of the season with a top-shelf wrister for the 2-1 victory. 

Here are three takeaways after the Bobcats’ big top-five victory over the Raiders.

Takeaway 1: Mobley continues making magic

The leading point scorer for Bobcats head coach Cass Turner’s squad, Olivia Mobley has been on a tear in the second half of her junior year season, as she put the exclamation point on Friday’s tilt. 

With four goals in her last three games and 32 points total, the former Ms. Hockey Minnesota has grown into a top player in the ECAC Hockey conference. Mobley ranks fourth in overall points in the conference behind Colgate’s Serdachny and Clarkson’s Gabrielle David and Darcie Lappan.  

Mobley’s chemistry with her linemates Madison Chantler and Shay Maloney is also undeniable both on and off the ice, with a combined 67 points for the trio. 

“We love being around each other, we love moving the puck,” Mobley said about her linemates following last Saturday’s game against Dartmouth. “Good things happen when we’re together.”

A big storyline has been the breakout of Mobley after a 34-point sophomore campaign and memorable moments like Friday’s overtime goal show that she’s on track to eclipse her first two seasons in Hamden.

Takeaway 2: Logan Angers has made her case for the HCA goaltender of the year award

On Wednesday, Logan Angers was named one of 27 watchlist candidates for the Hockey Commissioners Association National Women’s Goalie of the Year.  This isn’t unfamiliar territory for Angers, who has been named to the watchlist for the past three years since the award’s establishment in 2021.

It has always felt like Angers was on the outside looking in, but her graduate season has led to outstanding performances like Friday’s 27-save win, which is sure to turn more heads than ever.

Whether it was to send a subtle message to voters, or simply business as usual for the Winnipeg native, Angers was in peak form on Friday. Without her stick and her defense seemingly out of gas, Angers made key save after key save on the Raiders attack to force the overtime session in the last three minutes of regulation. 

Pushing her record to 13-3 on the year, Angers was the difference maker for the Bobcats. Without her stellar play, the Bobcats would have struggled to beat the best-scoring offense in the ECAC.

Takeaway 3: The load doesn’t get lighter going forward

When you’re the team atop the standings, you’re in the crosshairs of every conference opponent you face.

The Bobcats have made a lot of progress since the start of 2023. Following a program-defining win over the former No. 2 ranked Wisconsin, victory outside in Fenway Park against Harvard, and a season sweep over their rival Colgate, Quinnipiac may think the worst is behind them, but there are still bigger challenges ahead.

The Bobcats will move on to a tough road game with No. 9/9 Cornell on Saturday. Then they will start a three-game home stand against Brown, No. 2/3 Yale, and Princeton, three programs that have beaten the blue and gold within the last two seasons. 

For Cass Turner and the Bobcats, the mentality is to take the season game by game until they cross the finish line. With a season sweep over the Raiders in hand, the Bobcats move on to Ithaca tomorrow where the 10-5-2 Big Red awaits.

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