Quinnipiac University
No. 8/6 Cornell
No. 5 QU Women's Ice Hockey Blanks No. 8/6 Cornell, 3-0, for First Shutout Win Over Big Red in Program History
11/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 5 Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team dominated the No. 8/6 Cornell Big Red on their way to a 3-0 shutout at Lynah Rink. The clean sheet by the Bobcats marked the first time in program history that the Bobcats held Cornell scoreless in a win. Previously, Quinnipiac and Cornell skated to a 0-0 tie on Feb. 5, 2010 at Lynah Rink but Quinnipiac had never won a shut out with the Big Red until Saturday.
The Bobcats achieved a feat not many teams can claim in recent history by blanking the Big Red on their home ice. The last time Cornell was shut out at Lynah Rink was Feb. 16, 2013 in a 0-0 tie with Dartmouth. Additionally, the last time Cornell was shut out in a loss at home was Nov. 17, 2006 in a 1-0 loss to Princeton.
Quinnipiac's current eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1, 2-0-0 ECAC Hockey) is a new program record. The Bobcats have also won five consecutive games, including this weekend's ECAC opening weekend sweep of Colgate and Cornell (0-4-0, 0-2-0 ECAC Hockey) for their first ECAC weekend sweep since the final weekend of the regular season in 2013-14, also sweeping Colgate and Cornell on the road.
Emma Woods (Burford, Ontario) netted a goal and an assist to pace the Bobcats' offensive attack while Taylar Cianfarano (Oswego, New York) and Meghan Turner (Bedford, New Hampshire) each chipped in with goals for the Bobcats.
Cianfarano put the Bobcats up 1-0 just 5:34 into the first period of the game with her seventh goal of the season. Kristen Tamberg (North Toronto, Ontario) took the initial shot from the point, which sailed wide and off the end boards. Nicole Connery (Newmarket, Ontario) gathered the rebound on the right side of the goal before backhanding a pass through the slot to a wide open Cianfarano on the weak-side of the goal, where Cornell goaltender Paula Voorheis was unable to slide across her line quick enough.
Late in the first period Quinnipiac added two goals to increase their lead. Turner netted her second goal of the season after a great neutral zone play allowed her to break out, one-on-one with Voorheis. Turner's first shot was a pad save but Voorheis kicked out the rebound directly to Turner who was able to tuck the puck home past Cornell's goalie's glove to make it 2-0 Quinnipiac.
Woods gave the Bobcats a 3-0 lead with just 33 seconds remaining in the period when she tallied her second goal of the season and her first on the power play. Nicole Kosta (Mississauga, Ontario) set up the play with the shot from the left side where Morgan Fritz-Ward (Mason City, Iowa) collected the rebound out in front and found Woods wide open on the right side with an open net in front of her.
Despite not registering a goal in the second period, the Bobcats had numerous scoring opportunities to extend the lead. About 30 seconds into the period, Fritz-Ward was inches away from tallying a goal for the Bobcats but she wristed the shot off the crossbar. Quinnipiac also had two other two-on-one opportunities with Cianfarano feeding the puck from the left faceoff circle. The last big opportunity in the period came when Connery stole the puck in the offensive zone and skated one-on-one with Voorheis but just slid the puck wide left of the goal.
Cornell attempted to turn up the heat on Quinnipiac netminder Chelsea Laden (Lakeville, Minnesota) in the second and third periods but Laden continued to own the crease. Laden finished the game with 14 saves, including a barrage in the second period when she hugged the right side of the post and denied two shots from the right face-off circle. This marks Laden's fifth shutout in her seven wins so far this season.
For the Big Red, Voorheis settled down in the final two periods as she did not allow a goal after the three first period goals she allowed. Voorheis recorded 27 saves in her fourth loss of the season.
The Bobcats' 3-0 win over the Big Red marks the sixth time in Quinnipiac's eight games this season in which the Bobcats have scored three goals or more.
Quinnipiac has next weekend off before returning to action in two weeks when it hosts Rensselaer Friday night at 7 P.M. and Union Saturday afternoon at 4 P.M. at High Point Solutions Arena to continue ECAC play.
