No.10 Women's Ice Hockey Hosts Clarkson And St. Lawrence This Weekend
1/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Friday, January 28,
2011 - 7 p.m.
Quinnipiac University
Bobcats (16-8-1) (8-6-0 ECAC Hockey) vs.
Clarkson University
Golden Knights (9-13-3, 6-6-1 ECAC Hockey)
Saturday, January 29,
2011 - 4 p.m.
Quinnipiac University
Bobcats (16-8-1) (8-6-0 ECAC Hockey) vs.
St. Lawrence
University Saints (12-11-2, 7-6-0)
TD Bank Sports Center - Hamden, Conn.
Home
Sweet Home
The Quinnipiac
women's ice hockey team (16-8-1, 8-6-0 ECAC Hockey) returns to home
ice for the first time in almost two months when it hosts ECAC
Hockey opponents Clarkson (9-13-3, 6-6-1 ECAC Hockey) on Friday,
Jan. 28 and St. Lawrence (12-11-2, 7-6-0 ECAC Hockey) on Saturday,
Jan. 29. Friday night's game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, while
puck drops at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Follow The
Bobcats
Live Stats for
this weekend's games can be accessed by clicking on the appropriate
links on the women's ice hockey schedule at
www.quinnipiacbobcats.com.
About
Clarkson University
The Golden Knights
are on a two game winning streak after defeating both Yale and
Brown on Friday, Jan., 21 and Saturday, Jan. 22, respectively. On
Friday against Yale, Clarkson pulled out a 2-1 victory in overtime
on a goal from senior forward Melissa Waldie at the 3:25 mark into
the extra frame. On Saturday against Brown, Clarkson opened up
offensively and defeated the Bulldogs, 5-3. Waldie again led the
way with two goals (12 goals, six assists on the season), while
junior forward Gabrielle Kosziwka, freshman forward Jamie-Lee
Rattray (team-high 10 assists), and sophomore forward Danielle
Skirrow each netted one goal for the Golden Knights. Freshman
goaltender Erica Howe stopped 39 total shots in the two weekend
games to earn her fourth and fifth wins on the season. Howe has
accumulated a 1.78 goals against average and a .927 save percentage
while splitting time with senior netminder Lauren Dahm. Damn has a
2.63 goals against average and a ,918 save percentage on the
season.
All-Time
Against The Golden Knights
Friday's game will
be the 16th time Quinnipiac faces Clarkson, with the
Golden Knights leading the all-time series 3-10-2. In their last
meeting earlier this month on Saturday, Jan. 8 in Potsdam, N.Y.,
the Bobcats came away with one of the most exciting victories of
the season, defeating Clarkson 3-2 in overtime. Freshman forward Kelly
Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario) netted all three goals for the
Bobcats, including the game-winning goal with just 1:45 remaining
in the overtime frame. The hat trick for Babstock was her team-high
third of the season, while the win for Quinnipiac was the first
this season when trailing after the first period. Sophomore
goaltender Victoria
Vigilanti (Woodbridge, Ontario) turned away 30 shots on the
afternoon.
About
St. Lawrence University
The Saints come to
Hamden riding a three-game winning streak, including a weekend
sweep of Brown and Yale on Friday, Jan. 21 and Saturday, Jan. 22,
respectively. On Friday against Brown, the Saints won 4-2 and on
Saturday against Yale they shutout the Bulldogs 2-0. Leading
scorers Kelly Sabatine (13 goals, 11 assists) and Vanessa Emond
(nine goals, nine assists) each netted two goals over the weekend,
while the senior-freshman duo, Maxie Weisz and Caitlyn Lahonen,
each played in one game. On the season, Weisz has played 16 games
and accumulated a 2.32 goals against average and a .919 save
percentage, while Lahonen has played in 11 games and posted a 2.29
goals against average and a .908 save percentage.
All-Time
Against The Saints
Saturday's game
against St. Lawrence will be the 12th time the two sides
play each other, with the Saints owning a 2-8-1 all-time series
lead. In their last meeting on Friday, Jan. 7, 2011, Quinnipiac
netted three first period goals en route to a 3-2 victory.
Sophomore forward Brittany
Lyons (Canton, Mass.) led the charge with a goal and an assist,
while freshmen forwards Erica Uden
Johansson (Sundsvall, Sweden) and Amanda
Colin (Burnsville, Minn.) each scored as well for the Bobcats.
Vigilanti made 18 saves on the evening to earn her 13th
win of the season.
Last
Time Out
Quinnipiac is
coming off a weekend split against non-conference opponent Wayne
State. On Friday, Jan. 21, the Bobcats were defeated, 2-1.
Sophomore defender Regan
Boulton (Brandon, Manitoba) scored the lone goal for Quinnipiac
at the 18:41 mark of the first period. The following afternoon, on
Saturday, Jan. 22., Quinnipiac skated to a 3-0 win as junior
forward Kate
Wheeler (Oakville, Ontario) led the way with two goals scored.
Freshman forward Amanda
Colin (Burnsville, Minn.) netted the third goal for Quinnipiac
at the 13:56 mark into the second period, just 17 seconds after
Wheeler potted her second goal of the game. Sophomore goaltender
Victoria Vigilanti (Woodbridge, Ontario) made a solid 20 saves on
the afternoon and earned her sixth shutout of the
season.
No.
10 Ranking
No. 10 Quinnipiac
retained its ranking in both the January, 24, 2011 USCHO.com
Division I Women's Poll and in the January, 25, 2011 USA Today/USA
Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey weekly polls. Last week,
Quinnipiac earned only its second top-10 ranking in program history
in each respective poll. The Bobcats are also ranked No.10 in the
PairWise poll, which is traditionally an accurate predictor of what
teams the NCAA Selection Committee will choose when deciding which
eight teams will be chosen for the playoff brackets.
Wheels
Keep on Turnin'
Junior forward Kate
Wheeler continued to improve on her career high numbers over
the weekend. With two goals scored in a 3-0 victory over Wayne
State on Saturday, Jan. 22, Wheeler took sole possession of second
on the team in both goals (10) and total points (22). She also
ranks tied for second on the team in assists with 12. In ECAC
Hockey action, the junior forward ranks second with a +26 and is
tied for seventh in total points.
Blue
Line Offense
Sophomore defender
Regan
Boulton netted her eighth goal of the season on Friday, Jan. 21
in a 2-1 loss the Wayne State. Boulton leads all Quinnipiac
defenders in goals and her 14 points trails only junior defender Bethany
Dymarczyk (Hamden, Conn.) for the team lead in points by a
defender.
Another
Clean Sheet
With her sixth
shutout of the season against Wayne State on Saturday, Jan. 22,
sophomore goaltender Victoria Vigilanti tied her career-high for
most shutouts in a season. Vigilanti holds a 1.74 goals against
average and a .929 save percentage, which ranks her third and
fourth, respectively, among ECAC Hockey goaltenders. She ranks
second in league play in both saves (553) and win percentage
(.646).
Road
Friendly
With the win on
Saturday, Quinnipiac surpassed the program record for most road
wins in a season with eight. The record was set last season when
the team held a 7-5-4 road record during the 2009-10
campaign.
Colin
Chips In
Freshman forward
Amanda
Colin netted her fourth goal of the season on Saturday, Jan. 22
against Wayne State. She ranks third among freshman on the team in
goals scored and eighth overall in points with eight.
Power
Play Success
Quinnipiac holds a
19.6 power play conversion percentage, which ranks third in ECAC
Hockey action and eighth in NCAA Division I Women's Ice
Hockey.
Scoring
Defense
The Bobcats have
one of the best scoring defenses in the country, limiting its
opponents to just 1.74 goals per game. This mark ranks fourth-best
in NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey.
Hat
Trick Hero
Kelly
Babstock tallied her third hat trick of the season on Saturday,
Jan. 8 against Clarkson in a 3-2 overtime victory. Babstock tied
the game, 2-2, with just 5:55 remaining in the game and then
notched the game-winner with just 1:35 remaining in overtime to
seal the victory. This was also the 12th time this
season in which Babstock has registered a multiple point
effort.
Comeback
Kids
Saturday's
overtime victory over Clarkson marked the first time this season
Quinnipiac has won a game in which it found itself behind after the
first period of play. The Bobcats are now 1-5-1 in such games, as
opposed to a perfect 11-0-0 in games which it led after the first
20 minutes.
Sports
Illustrated Takes Note
Babstock was
featured in the January 17, 2011 edition of Sports
Illustrated in its "Faces in the Crowd" section. The selection
was only the second time in Quinnipiac's history that a
student-athlete was honored with such an accolade.
Top
Of The Class
Babstock has 20
goals and 21 assists on the season, as she continues to lead all
ECAC Hockey scorers in goals, assists and points. She also ranks
second among all NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey freshman in
goals, first in assists and is tied for first in points. She is
second in the country with seven game-winning goals.
Recipe
For Success
When Babstock
scores, the possibility of a Bobcats victory improves dramatically.
Quinnipiac is 12-1-0 in games that she lights the lamp.
Hitting
Their Stride
Quinnipiac has won
seven of its last nine games and 11 of its last 16. Of the final
eight ECAC Hockey games remaining, four of those will be played on
its home ice.
Personal
Best
With a goal and an
assist of Friday, Jan. 7 against St. Lawrence, sophomore forward Brittany
Lyons (Canton, Mass.) has now scored six goals and four assists
on the season, surpassing her previous career-high nine point
total.
Remember
When...
The weekend sweep
of St. Lawrence and Clarkson was the first road weekend sweep since
the opening two games of the season on October 1 and 2 against
Niagara.
Torching
The Net
Quinnipiac's first
line, consisting of freshman Erica Uden
Johansson (Sundsvall, Sweden), junior Kate Wheeler (Oakville,
Ontario) and Babstock, have collectively accounted for 84 points on
the season thus far. Wheeler and Babstock rank second and third
among ECAC Hockey Skaters with a +26 and +25 mark,
respectively.
Awarding
Excellence
Aside from the
Sports Illustrated feature, Babstock has been recognized
on seven separate occasions for her remarkable play during the
season. Most recently, she was named Quinnipiac's Female Athlete Of
The Month for the month of December, leading the team to two
victories in the only two games played during the month. This was
the second consecutive time Babstock has been named Female Athlete
Of The Month. She received the same accolade for the month of
November after she accumulated 10 goals and five assists in nine
games played. She is a four-time ECAC Hockey/MLX Skates Rookie of
the Week award winner, as well as a one-time Player of the Week
recipient.
On
The Road
Quinnipiac travels
to play ECAC Hockey opponents Dartmouth and Harvard on Friday, Feb.
4 and Saturday, Feb. 5. Friday's game against Dartmouth is set to
start at 7 p.m., while Saturday's game against Harvard is set for a
4 p.m. start.
