QU Women's Ice Hockey to Play Blue vs. Gold Scrimmage at 4 P.M.
9/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Quinnipiac Team Blue (0-0-0) vs.
Quinnipiac Team Gold (0-0-0)
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014 • 4 P.M.
High Point Solutions Arena • TD Bank Sports Center
- Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey Game Notes
- Live Stats: www.quinnipiacbobcats.com
- Twitter: @QUAthletics
Nationally Recognized
For the first time since the 2011-12 season, the Bobcats cracked the Top 10 in the USCHO Preseason Poll. Quinnipiac picked up a No. 10 ranking, tied with Minnesota-Duluth, in the poll. The Bobcats are also ranked No. 10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Preseason Poll. Three other teams were ranked in the polls as Harvard was selected No. 4 in both, Cornell was ranked No. 5 in the USCHO poll and No. 6 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, and Clarkson was ranked No. 7 in both.
What to Look For
Today's Blue vs. Gold scrimmage will split the Bobcats into two squads to face-off against each other. The scrimmage will feature three-10 minute periods of the Bobcats fighting for bragging rights as to who's squad is best.
Last Time Out
The first exhibition game of the 2014-15 started off with a bang as Quinnipiac dominated the Chinese National Team from puck drop to the final horn, 8-0. Seven different Bobcats scored goals and nine different Bobcats recorded points, led by Nicole Connery's two goals and TT Cianfarano's one goal and two assists.
ECAC Preseason Coaches' Poll
Quinnipiac was ranked fourth in the preseason coaches' poll, receiving 95 points in the voting. This is the second straight season the Bobcats were selected fourth in the preseason coaches' poll, with Quinnipiac receiving 94 points last year. Harvard was tabbed as the Preseason coaches' selection with nine first place votes and 119 points. In second place was Cornell with one first place vote and 108 points, and in third was National Champion Clarkson with two first place votes and 101 points.
O Captain, My Captain
The captains for this year's edition of the Quinnipiac Bobcats have been announced and will feature co-captains as well as two assistant captains. Seniors Morgan Fritz-Ward and Erica Uden Johansson are this year's co-captains while senior Shiann Darkangelo and junior Cydney Roesler have been named assistant captains. It's the first time the Bobcats will have co-captains since 2002-03 when Serena Hillman and Elizabeth Jankowski were named co-captains.
New Year, New Faces
The Quinnipiac women's ice hockey program welcomes six newcomers to Hamden, Connecticut although they did not have very far to travel for school. Included in the freshman class are three forwards, two defensemen and a goaltender all from either the New England region or New York. Taylar Cianfarano is the lone newcomer from New York, and has won back-to-back silver medals withe U.S. U18 National Team at the IIHF World Championships. She tallied 385 points her last three years at the National Sports Academy. Alicia Barry hails from Massachusetts where she helped guide Assabet Valley U-19 to a USA Hockey Tier I National Championship. Shannon Cherpak, from right here in Connecticut, was an integral part of the Westminster School's run to a Division I New England Prep School Championship. Cherpak also competed for one of the top club teams in the U.S., Team Pittsburgh U-19. Cherpak's Westminster teammate Tori DeAngelis also comes to Hamden off a championship run, scoring all three goals in the championship game. DeAngelis also played with Barry for Assabet Valley where they won a championship and DeAngelis has attended the USA Hockey National Development camp. Raquel Pennoyer is the fifth member of the squad after playing four years with the Tabor Academy. Pennoyer also has experience with USA Hockey as she was invited to the National Development camp in 2010. The final member of the freshman class is Rachel Myette, a goaltender from Massachusetts. Myette was named "Miss Hockey" by ESPNBoston.com and Boston Herald Player of the Year in 2014. A four-time state champion, Myette has 39 career shutouts and finished her senior year with a0.72 GAA and a .954 save percentage.
Season Recap
The 2013-14 season finished with Quinnipiac recording its best record program history, finishing 22-6-9 (11-4-7 ECAC). Quinnipiac also reached the ECAC semifinals for the third time in program history. Highlighting the season was the Bobcats reaching a national ranking of No. 5 from USCHO.com, the highest ranking in program history. From start to finish, the Bobcats had a remarkable season. Shiann Darkangelo led the squad with 23 goals while Kelly Babstock led the team in assists with 30. Overall, Babstock had 49 points on the season while Darkangelo added 40 in her first season in the Blue and Gold. Chelsea Laden stepped right into the starting role and didn't look back. She went 19-6-9 as the starter, and finished the season with a GAA of 1.48 and save percentage of .928. Quinnipiac recorded several big wins on the seasons, including a 3-2 win over Boston College on Nov. 15, a 2-1 win at Cornell on Feb. 21 and the 2-1 win which sealed the quarterfinal win over St. Lawrence on Mar. 1. Quinnipiac also had ties against several big teams this season, including a 1-1 tie against Cornell on Nov. 2, 2-2 tie vs. Harvard on Feb. 1, and a 3-3 tie vs. Clarkson on Feb. 7. The Bobcats season came to an end in the ECAC semifinals with a 6-0 loss to Clarkson, who went on to win the NCAA Tournament.
First Time for Everything
Kelly Babstock's illustrious career added one more first to her career as she was named a CCM/ACHA second-team All-American, the first time a Quinnipiac women's ice hockey player has earned the honor. Not only was she named All-American, but Babstock was named a New England Division I All-Star for the fourth time, and first-team all-ECAC for the third time in her career,
American Girls
Shiann Darkangelo was invited to the U.S. Women's Senior National Team Evaluation Camp from Sept. 12-15 at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. Joining Darkangelo were 13 members of the 2014 U.S. Olympic silver-medalist team. Prior to being invited to the Evaluation Camp, Darkangelo competed with the U-22 team against the Canadian U-22 team in a three-game series in Calgary, Alberta Aug. 22-24 where she scored the game-winning goal in game one. Chelsea Laden joined Darkangelo at the National Festival on Aug. 12-16 where they were evaluated and players were chosen for the series against Canada.
How Swede It Is
Erica Uden Johansson returns for her senior season after taking the 2013-14 season to train and compete for Team Sweden in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. It was the second Olympic appearance for Uden Johansson, who also competed for Sweden in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Uden Johansson scored in Sochi in the Bronze Medal game against Switzerland, which the Swiss came back to win, 4-3.
O, Canada
Associate head coach Cassandra Turner is the final member of the Quinnipiac women's ice hockey program to take part on the international stage. Turner was named head coach of the U18 Canadian National Team, and coached them to two wins over the United States in a three-game series in Calgary, Alberta Aug. 22-24. The Canadians won the first two games of the series before dropping the third to the Americans.
#Eurocats
The Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team traveled to Italy and Switzerland from Aug. 12-23 to compete against international competition as well as enjoy the sites of Europe. The Bobcats lost to the Swiss National Team, 2-0 but graduated senior Ashley Winslow starred in goal, stopping 17 of 19 shots. The next day, Quinnipiac jumped all over the Zurich Lions and won 6-1. Graduates Kelly Babstock and Amanda Colin each scored goals, as Babstock and Nicole Kosta ended with a goal and two assists each to finish off the competitive part of the trip. For the rest of the trip, the Bobcats enjoyed the sights and sounds of Italy where they enjoyed the cuisine and the culture.
Disciplined
Quinnipiac was a well-disciplined team in 2013-14, as it finished the season as the second to least penalized team in the nation. The Bobcats averaged 6.3 penalty minutes per game, just 0.1 minutes higher than Wisconsin. The Bobcats 6.3 penalty minutes per game is also more than half of what the most penalized team in the nation received, as Ohio State lead the country in penalty minutes per game at 14.7.
Top-Five Defense
Led by Chelsea Laden between the pipes, the Bobcats had the fifth best scoring defense in the entire country last season at 1.49 goals allowed per game. Who was ahead of the Bobcats was none other than three of the four Frozen Four teams in defending National Champion Clarkson, runner-up Minnesota and Wisconsin. Holy Cross was just ahead of the Bobcats in scoring defense but played 10 fewer games.
Well Balanced Machine
It wasn't just the Bobcats defense that got the job done, as Quinnipiac ranked ninth in scoring margin with a 1.16 mark. Quinnipiac averaged 2.65 goals per game offensively (14th in the nation). This well-balanced attack is what propelled the Bobcats into the ECAC semifinals With Laden between the pipes, a strong blue-line defense and the offensive led by Darkangelo and Babstock.
Leading the Charge
During the 2013-14 season, Shiann Darkangelo was towards the top of the country in almost every offensive category to spearhead the Bobcats offensive attack. Darkangelo was seventh in goals per game at 0.62, 23rd in the nation with 1.08 points per game, tied for 69th with 0.46 assists per game, tied for 47th with four power-play goals and tied for eighth with five game-winning goals.
Out of the Woods
Emma Woods had a spectacular freshman year which launched her into becoming one of the top rookies in the country. Woods was 11th in the nation with a points per game mark of 0.68. She was also in the Top 100 out of all players in the country for both points and goals per game. Woods' 0.68 points per game mark was good for 88th in the nation, and scored 13 goals which put her in 50th with 0.35 goals per game.
Defending the Blue Line
The core of the defensive unit is returning for the 2014-15 season as the Bobcats only lost one defender to graduation in Shelby Wignall. Juniors Cydney Roesler, Kristen Tamberg and Lindsey West are all back after becoming the top defensemen for Quinnipiac. Roesler and Tamberg led the team with 41 blocked shots each. Taryn Baumgardt finished with 38 blocked shots in 2014-15 while West finished with 29 on the season.
I'm Feelin' 22
Tying the program record for wins in a season at 22, the Quinnipiac Bobcats had one of their best seasons to date. The only season that compares record wise is the 2010-11 season where Quinnipiac finished 22-12-3 (12-9-1 ECAC). With the latest 22 win seasons, Quinnipiac has back to back seasons with at least 20 wins and five straight seasons recording at least 19 wins.
Reaching for the Stars
For much of the 2013-14 season the Bobcats found themselves in the Top 10 in the USCHO poll. On Nov. 18, the Bobcats reached their highest ranking in program history as they were ranked No. 5 for the week after a strong start to the season. Quinnipiac finished the season ranked No. 10 in the poll, as the Bobcats spent almost the entire season ranked somewhere between No. 7 and No. 10.
