No. 4/4 QU Women's Ice Hockey Wins 2014 Nutmeg Classic Championship With 3-1 Win Over Clarkson
11/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Storrs, Conn. – The No. 4/4 Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team defeated the No. 5/6 Clarkson Golden Knights, 3-1, on their way to the program's fifth Nutmeg Classic Championship Title Saturday night at Freitas Ice Forum.
The Bobcats have now won four of the last five Nutmeg Classic Championships.
Goaltender Chelsea Laden (Lakeville, Minnesota) was named the Nutmeg Classic's Most Valuable Goaltender as she racked up 24 saves on 25 shots in the championship game, the most she faced in a game all year. Laden finished with 40 saves in the tournament.
Emma Woods (Burford, Ontario) was also recognized at the conclusion of the tournament as the Nutmeg Classic's Most Valuable Player after scoring two goals and recording one assist in the tournament, including the game-winning goal in the championship game. Woods tallied her seventh goal of the season, including her second game-winner, and netted her sixth goal in the last eight games.
Also named to the all-tournament team for Quinnipiac were Morgan Fritz-Ward (Mason City, Iowa) for her two goal tournament performance and Cydney Roesler (Stittsville, Ontario) for her stellar defense.
Saturday marked the Bobcats second win over the Golden Knights in eight days and just the second time in program history the Bobcats have beaten the Golden Knights in consecutive games since the first two meetings back on Nov. 15, 2003 and Feb. 14, 2004.
Quinnipiac (13-0-2, 6-0-1 ECAC Hockey) has now won three straight meetings against ranked opponents as it extends its unbeaten streak to 15 games to start the season.
Taylar Cianfarano (Oswego, New York) scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season to break a streak of four games without a point and six games without a goal.
Fritz-Ward scored an empty net goal to seal the deal for the Bobcats for her second goal of the weekend and of the season.
Cianfarano put the Bobcats on top of the Golden Knights 8:32 into the first period when she streaked down the slot and re-directed a centering pass from Fritz-Ward on the left boards past Clarkson goaltender Shea Tiley to give Quinnipiac a 1-0 lead.
Woods doubled Quinnipiac's lead to 2-0 with 9:02 remaining in the second period when Shiann Darkangelo (Brighton, Michigan) collected her own dumped puck and fired a pass to Woods in front of the net where she buried the puck past Tiley.
Clarkson (11-5-1, 5-1-1 ECAC Hockey) answered less than one minute later when Amanda Titus cut Quinnipiac's lead in half at 2-1 when her shot just barely snuck under Laden's glove.
With the championship in the Bobcats' grasp, Fritz-Ward scored an empty-netter with four seconds left in the game to seal a 3-1 win for Quinnipiac.
The Bobcats return to ECAC Hockey action on Friday night at 7 P.M. when they travel to Hanover, New Hampshire to take on the Dartmouth Big Green at Thompson Arena.
