No. 7/7 QU Women's Ice Hockey Hosts Mercyhurst in Season Opener

Friday, October 2

Hamden, Conn.

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Mercyhurst University

No. 7/7 QU Women's Ice Hockey Hosts Mercyhurst in Season Opener

10/1/2015 8:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey

By: QU Sports Information

No. 7/7 Quinnipiac University Bobcats (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey) vs.
Mercyhurst University Lakers (0-0-0, 0-0-0 CHA)
Dates: Oct. 2-3, 2015
Times: 7:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M.
Location: High Point Solutions Arena - Hamden, Conn.

Welcome Home
The No. 7/7 Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team kicks off the 2015-16 season this weekend as they host the Mercyhurst Lakers for the first time since the 2012-13 season with the first game scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 P.M. and the second game of the weekend series set for Saturday, Oct. 3 at 1 P.M. Both games will be played at High Point Solutions Arena.

All-Time Against the Lakers
Mercyhurst owns the all-time series with the Quinnipiac Bobcats, boasting a 12-1-1 record in 14 all-time meetings. The tide has begun to turn in favor of the Bobcats; however, after going 0-11-0 against the Lakers in their first 11 meetings, the Bobcats are 1-1-1 in the last three meetings. Quinnipiac and Mercyhurst haven't faced each other since the 2012-13 season when the Lakers opened the season in Hamden, Conn. The Lakers and Bobcats skated to a 4-4 tie in the season opener before Mercyhurst took the second game, 4-3. Senior Nicole Kosta had a hand in nearly every goal scored by the Bobcats as she scored one goal and assisted four others. Cydney Roesler, a freshman at the time, assist Kosta's goal in the Bobcats 4-3 loss.

Scouting the Lakers
Last season, the Lakers finished with a 23-9-3 record and won the College Hockey America regular season championship for the 13^th straight season but fell in the CHA semifinals. The Lakers return over half their scoring from last season, most notably Emily Janiga and Jenna Dingeldein who combined to score 45 of the Lakers' 96 goals. Janiga was the 2014-15 CHA Player of the year, scoring a team-high 27 goals with 18 assists for 45 points. Dingeldein was second on the Lakers with 18 goals and added 17 assists for 35 points. Forward Sarah Robello, who was named to the CHA All-Rookie team, returns for her sophomore season after tying for the team-lead with 21 assists and was third on the team with 28 points. Defensively, J'nai Mahadeo and Lauren Kilroy return as the defensive leaders for Mercyhurst. Mahadeo recorded a career-high 16 assists and 19 points last season while Kilroy was by far the team leader in blocked shots with 97. In goal, the Lakers goaltender Amanda Makela to graduation after playing in 66 games in the last two seasons and finished her career with a 52-28-8 record. Last season, Makela went 20-8-3 with a 1.44 GAA and .932 save percentage. Jessica Convery is the lone goaltender on the staff to have college experience, appearing in just 19:49 as a freshman with four saves. On special teams last season, Mercyhurst scored 31 power play goals in 153 opportunities, good for 20.3 percent while the penalty kill was just as good, allowing just 10 power play goals and a penalty kill percentage of 93.5.

Multimedia
Free live video will be available for each of the Bobcats two home games this weekend with streams available via QuinnipiacBobcats.com. All Quinnipiac women's ice hockey home games will be streamed on the school's all-access feed, free of charge. Live stats will also be available for each game this weekend. Fans can also follow the action on Twitter by following the team's Twitter account, @QU_WIH.

Preseason Recognition
The Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team received its highest national preseason ranking in program history by two national outlets as the Bobcats were ranked No. 7 in the country by both the USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's Poll. Last season, the Bobcats were ranked No. 10 in each of the preseason polls for the first time since the 2011 season.

ECAC Hockey Preseason Coaches' Poll
Preseason recognition continued on the conference level, as the Bobcats were picked to finish third in the ECAC Hockey Women's Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 94 points in the poll. It was just the second time in program history that the Bobcats were picked to finished third in the preseason poll with the first time coming in the 2011-12 preseason poll.

Captain Crunch
Senior Cydney Roesler was elevated from assistant captain in 2014-15 to this season's captain, becoming the 13^th individual to be named captain in the program's 14 year history. As an assistant captain last season, Roesler scored a career-high seven goals while adding six assists for 13 points. Roesler and fellow senior defenseman Kristen Tamberg blocked a team-high 52 shots throughout the season. Tamberg will join junior Emma Woods as assistant captains for the 2015-16 season, their first seasons as team leaders. Tamberg recorded a career-high 13 assists and points with her 52 blocks shots while Woods was once again among the team's scoring leaders with 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points.

Welcome to the Den
The Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team welcomes six freshman to the program. The freshman class consists of four forwards, one defenseman and one goaltender while each brings a wealth of experience to the program. Melissa Samoskevich highlights the Bobcats freshman class after an impressive career at Shattuck-St. Mary's and most recently spending time with the U.S. U-22 and U-18 National Teams. Samoskevich was named the All-USA Girls' Hockey Player of the Year after scoring a tournament-high six goals at the IIHF U-18 Women's World Championships in Buffalo, N.Y. on the way to winning the gold medal and tallying 56 goals with 38 assists at Shattuck-St. Mary's for 94 points. Samoskevich, a Sandy Hook, Connecticut native, was named to the U.S. U-22 National Development Select Team for a three game series against Canada after the National Development camp in August. Randi Marcon comes to Hamden from Winnipeg, Ontario, one of two Winnipeg natives to join the program this season. Marcon has experience with both St. Mary's Academy as well as Team Manitoba, where she captain her province at the Canada Winter Games in 2015. Marcon scored 20 goals and assisted 22 more for 42 points this past season for St. Mary's, finishing second on the team in goals and third in assists and points. In the last three seasons for St. Mary's, Marcon tallied a total of 52 goals and 68 points for 120 points. The lone defenseman Kate MacKenzie also comes to Hamden by way of St. Mary's Academy and Winnipeg. MacKenzie was among the top defenseman for the Flames, recording the fewest penalty minutes on the team with just six in 44 games played. MacKenzie led all defenseman in goals with nine as a senior and was second with 15 assists. MacKenzie Lancaster, from Waxhaw, North Carolina, was named the Team Captain of the Berkshire School women's hockey team and ended the season with team MVP honors. Berkshire won several tournament champions throughout her senior season, including the E.G. Watkins Tournament and Cushing Tournament. She also attended the U.S. U-17 Development Camp in 2013 and 2014. Miranda Lantz joins the Bobcats' Ontario contingent, coming from Mildmay and playing several season with the Cambridge Jr. Rivulettes. Lantz scored 22 goals and recorded 40 assists in the last two seasons to finish with 62 points combined. Last season, Lantz recorded just six penalty minutes and was one of the leaders in the playoffs with three goals and five assists. Last, but not least, the Bobcats added goaltender Claire Lachner from Commerce, Michigan. Lachner appeared in the last five Michigan state championship tournaments and made three trips to nationals with Little Caesars U-19.

Turner's in Charge
Cassandra Turner enters her first season at the helm of the Quinnipiac women's ice hockey program after serving seven seasons as an assistant, including the last four as an associate head coach. Turner is the fourth head coach in Quinnipiac women's ice hockey history heading into the 15^th season. Under Turner, the Bobcats have won 131 games in the past seven seasons and have grown into becoming one of the best defensive teams in the country. In 2009-10, the Bobcats had set a goals allowed per game record at 1.38 before smashing that mark in 2014-15, allowing just 1.18 goals per game. This season will mark Turners' first season as the head coach after serving as the head coach of the Canadian U-18 National Team during the 2014-15 season.

New Coaches on the Block
Quinnipiac's six freshman aren't the only new faces in town as head coach Cassandra Turner hired Eddie Ardito and Amanda Mazzotta as assistants for the 2015-16 season. Ardito most recently spend five seasons at Yale, four of which came as an assistant coach. Each season with Ardito as an assistant coach, the Bulldogs improved by 14 wins and led them to their first playoff victory in nearly 10 seasons. Statistically, the Bulldogs nearly tripled their offensive production from 1.07 goals per game in 2011-12 to 3.00 goals per game in 2014-15, while the goals allowed per game went from 151 to 73. Mazzotta brings a wealth of playing and coaching experience as well. In addition to her assistant coach duties with Quinnipiac, Mazzotta will serve as the goaltending coach for the Canadian National Development team after serving as the goaltending coach under Turner with the U-18 team last season. Mazzotta played her college hockey at Cornell University from 2008-09 to 2011-12, going 53-17-8 with 22 shutouts between the pipes, a 1.55 GAA and .928 save percentage. Mazzotta made a national championship appearance in 2009-10 with the Big Red.

Season Recap
The 2014-15 season was one of the best seasons in program history for the Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team as the Bobcats finished with a 26-9-3 (15-5-2 ECAC Hockey) record in 38 games played. The Bobcats qualified for their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history where they faced ECAC Hockey foe Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. Among the notable team records from last season, the Bobcats recorded the most wins (26), most conference wins (15), best conference finish (3^rd), highest winning percentage (.724), most shutouts (17), fewest goals (45) and fewest penalty minutes (162) in program history. Quinnipiac's 162 penalty minutes and 4.3 PIM also set NCAA records while Chelsea Laden's 16 individual shutouts were the most in team and conference history, and second in NCAA history.

A Whole New World
Five former Quinnipiac women's ice hockey players will leave their mark in women's ice hockey history as they signed professional contracts with the National Women's Hockey League, the first paid professional women's ice hockey league in North America. Chelsea Laden, Shiann Darkangelo and Kelly Babstock each signed contracts with the Connecticut Whale based in Stamford, Conn. while Morgan Fritz-Ward and Elena Orlando signed contracts with the New York Riveters who will play in Brooklyn, New York. With this group of five going pro, they join Victoria Vigilanti who is entering her third season with the Vienna Sabres in Austria. In total, 11 former Quinnipiac women's ice hockey players have signed professional contracts after graduating.