QU Women's Ice Hockey Hits the Road for First ECAC Hockey Weekend at Brown and Yale

Friday, October 30

Providence, R.I.

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Brown University

QU Women's Ice Hockey Hits the Road for First ECAC Hockey Weekend at Brown and Yale

10/29/2015 4:29:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac University Bobcats (4-0-1, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey) at
Brown University Bears (0-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey)
Location: Meehan Auditorium
Date: Oct. 30, 2015
Time: 7:00 P.M.

Quinnipiac University Bobcats (4-0-1, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey) at
Yale University Bulldogs (0-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC Hockey)
Location: Ingalls Rink
Date: Oct. 31, 2015
Time: 4:00 P.M.

Hit the Road, Jack
The Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team will hit the road this weekend for just the second time in the 2015-16 season as they will open up ECAC Hockey play on the road against Brown on Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 P.M. in Providence, Rhode Island before returning to New Haven, Conn. to face the Yale Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 4 P.M.

All-Time Against Brown
Through the Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team's history, the Bobcats have been very successful against the Brown Bears, posting a 13-6-3 record, including a 7-3-1 mark on the road in Providence, Rhode Island. The Bobcats have been particularly successful in the past six seasons as they are unbeaten with a 10-0-2 record since their Nov. 6, 2009 meeting. The Bobcats are also riding a seven game winning streak against the Bears and have allowed just one goal in those seven straight victories, outscoring Brown 24-1.

Scouting the Bears
Through the first two games of the season, the Bears have netted just one tally behind Bridget Carey's first career goal in just her second career game. Last year's freshman standout for Brown, Sam Donovan, picked up an assist on Carey's goal. Julianne Landry and Monica Elvin split time between the pipes for Brown, allowing a total of seven goals plus one empty net goal in their weekend series against Maine. The Bears lost the season opener 4-0 and fell to the Black Bears once again last Saturday, 4-1. Elvin recorded 29 saves on 32 shots while Landry stopped 26 of 30. The Bears were 0 for 9 on the power play this past weekend while going 6 for 7 on the penalty kill. Last season, the Bears went just 5-23-1 and tallied a 2-19-1 record in ECAC Hockey play.

All-Time Against Yale
The Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team has enjoyed recent success against the Yale Bulldogs, going 6-3-1 in the last 10 matchups and the Bobcats have scored at least three goals in every win against the Bulldogs. Last weekend, the Bobcats doubled up the Bulldogs in Hamden, winning 6-3 in the Bulldogs' season opener. Nicole Kosta scored two goals and assisted one more for a three-point game while Melissa Samoskevich equaled Kosta's point total with one goal and two assists for three points. Taylar Cianfarano and Nicole Connery each tallied one goal and one assist while Raquel Pennoyer tucked home a goal for the Bobcats. Goaltender Sydney Rossman stopped 18 of the 21 shots she faced for her fourth win of the season.

Scouting the Bulldogs
Yale comes into their first conference weekend of the season after a non-conference loss to Quinnipiac put them at 0-1-0. In exhibition play, the Bulldogs went 1-1-0 in exhibition matchups, knocking off the Toronto Aeros 6-1 before falling to the McGill Martlets, 4-1. Hanna Mandl got the start between the pipes in the season opener for the Bulldogs, recording 20 saves on 26 shots. Krista Yip-Chuck was the only multi-point scorer with one goal and one assist for the Bulldogs while Janelle Ferrara and Emily Monaghan also tallied markers for Yale. Taylor Marchin and Jordan Chancellor each picked up assists in the loss for the Bulldogs in the first game of the season. On special teams, Yale was 0 for 3 on the power play while give up a power play goal to the Bobcats while on the penalty kill.

Multimedia
Both games this weekend will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network. Each game can be purchased for $9.95 per day or various packages can be purchased to cover future Bobcats' games on the ILDN. Live stats will also be available for fans to follow by going to QuinnipiacBobcats.com, or the respective Brown and Yale websites. Fans can also follow the action on Twitter all season long by following the team's Twitter account, @QU_WIH.

Five Gals
The Bobcats are back in the top five of the national polls once again, and for the first time during the 2015-16 season. This is the first time the Bobcats were back in the top five of both polls since Feb. 16 as the Bobcats spent 15 consecutive weeks in the top five. After a No. 8 ranking in the USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll, the Bobcats catapulted into the No. 5 spot after a win over Yale. In the other poll, the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's Poll, the Bobcats also moved up from the No. 7 spot to No. 5.

Samoas
Melissa Samoskevich is off to a roaring start in her career, as she sits second in the country in points per game by a rookie (1.80), third in assists per game (1.40), and tied for 15^th with Taylar Cianfarano in points per game overall. Samoskevich is also tied for fourth in ECAC Hockey with nine points while her seven assists are tied for second. Even more impressive, Samoskevich is the first Bobcats' rookie since Kelly Babstock in 2010-11 to record a point in the first five games of her career, as Samoskevich as tallied two goals and seven assists for nine points. Samoskevich has also tallied back to back three point games, the first freshman since Babstock to accomplish the feat.

Kost-co
Samoskevich wasn't the only Bobcat to tally three points in their showdown with the Bulldogs as Nicole Kosta posted her first three point game since Nov. 3, 2013 when she had two goals and one assist against the Cornell Big Red. After recording her 100^th career point on Oct. 10, Kosta has now scored at least one goal in three consecutive games and has four goals over that span. As of Wednesday, Kosta was 18^th in the country with 0.80 goals per game this season.

I'm Feelin' 22
Taylar Cianfarano has been just as electric for the Bobcat through the first five games, leading the team in goals (5) and points (9). Her totals are also recognized nationally, as she's tied for 15^th with Samoskevich in points per game (1.80) and tied for 10th goals per game (1.00). In ECAC Hockey, Cianfarano is tied for fourth with nine points while her five goals are tied for third. Cianfarano's point streak is on par with Samoskevich, also totaling a point in all five games while also netting a goal in four straight.

Conway Twitty
Another Bobcat with an impressive game on Saturday was Nicole Connery, posting her second consecutive multi-point game with a goal and an assist against Yale. Connery propelled the Bobcats with her late goal to give her two goals on the season. Her five points are tied for third on the team with Kosta, Cydney Roesler and Emma Woods.

Rocky Top
After potting one goal as a freshman, Raquel Pennoyer struck the scoresheet on Saturday against the Bulldogs with her first goal of the 2015-16 season and second of her career. Pennoyer moved up to the first line of the Bobcats for the first time, and it paid off as her two on one breakaway with Kosta resulted in her first goal of the season.

Cyd the Kid
The Bobcats' forwards aren't the only ones on point scoring streaks as Cydney Roesler has tallied a point in four consecutive games to lead all Quinnipiac defenseman in scoring with one goal and four assists. Roesler has tallied all five points over her point scoring streak, and is tied for sixth in the country in points per game by defenseman (1.00). Her five points are sixth among ECAC Hockey defenseman, and third among all seniors in the league.

How Sweet It Is
The Bobcats continue to win at an impressive pace as they are unbeaten through the first five games of the season for the third straight season in program history. Last season, the Bobcats set a program record unbeaten streak of 16 games that ranged from Oct. 3 to Dec. 5. Overall, in the last two seasons the Bobcats have rattled off 13 unbeaten streaks of five or more games in the past six seasons.

Back to Her Roots
Despite returning to Brown multiple times as an assistant coach or associate head coach, head coach Cassandra Turner is heading back to Brown to face her alma mater for the first time as a head coach. As an assistant behind the Bobcats' bench, Turner and the Bobcats are 11-3-2 facing the Bears. Turner and the Bears reached two national championship games as a player back in 2000 and 2002.

Headed Down Whitney
Turner isn't the only Bobcat coach heading back a former school this weekend as assistant Eddie Ardito will face his former school, Yale, for the second consecutive week and will make his first trip back to the Elm City since joining the Bobcats' staff. Last weekend, the Bobcats beat the Bulldogs, 6-3, and put Ardito at 1-0-0 against his former team.

Certainly Special
The Bobcats special teams have been solid through the first five games of the season, both taking advantage of the power play and keeping opposing teams off the scoreboard on the penalty kill. So far this season, the Bobcats have score three power play goals, including two from Nicole Kosta, in 12 opportunities to be at 25 percent. The penalty kill has been even better, as the Bobcats are 15 for 16 at 93.8 percent, which is tied for fifth in the country.