Cole Nets Game-Winner for Bobcats
HAMDEN, CT -- A pair of goals late in the second period gave the Quinnipiac University women's ice hockey team their first win in their last 16 games. The Bobcats improve to 2-12-4 overall while Robert Morris goes to 10-10-1 on the season.
Elyse Cole's (Belleville, Ont.) goal with 15 seconds remaining in the second period was the difference as Quinnipiac picked up the 2-1 win. The win was Quinnipiac's first since Oct. 12 when they defeated Northeastern, 4-3, at the TD Banknorth Sports Center and brings Quinnipiac's all-time record against Robert Morris to 4-0-0.
"We showed tonight that we can persevere," head coach Michael Barrett said. "We showed that we could find a way. Nobody is going to give it to us, especially that team. We fought and we clawed and took advantage of our second chances."
The Colonials jumped out to an early lead at the 11:18 mark when Morgan Beikirch received a pass from Samantha Ullrich. Beikirch's shot slipped past Quinnipiac's Jamie Miller (Richmond Hill, Ont.) to give the Colonial's the early 1-0 lead. The goal was Beikirch's third of the season while the assist was Ullrich's seventh of the season.
With 2:18 remaining in the second period, Miller denied RMU's Chelsea Walkland on a breakaway. Walkland broke up a Quinnipiac drive at center ice and was all alone, one-on-one with Miller. The freshman goalie made a glove save to hold RMU's lead at 1-0.
The save would be costly to Robert Morris as Quinnipaic scored twice in the final two minutes of the period. Kelley Davies (Chesapeake, Va.) scored her second career goal at the 18:28 mark on an assist from Kallie Flor (Farmington, Minn.). The assist was Flor's fifth of the season and 16th of her career.
Elyse Cole (Belleville, Ont.) put Quinnipiac on top, 2-1, with her team-leading sixth goal of the season with 15 seconds remaining in the period. Cole got a rebound off a missed shot and was assisted on the play by freshman Brandice Moniz (Oakville, Ont.) and Erike Bolognino (Carol Stream, Ill.). The assist was Moniz's team-best eighth of the year while Bolognino logged her fifth assist of the season.
"That second goal was great," Barrett said. "It was just blue collar, textbook crash-the-net. We did a great job of taking advantage of a second opportunity."
For the game, RMU's Brianne McLaughlin had 30 saves in net while Miller totaled 15 for the game. Quinnipiac held a sizable advantage in the shots category, 32-16.
"We're getting more shots, but we haven't been getting enough goals," Barrett said. "If we can get something rolling, then we can compete with some good teams."
The Bobcats close out their two-game series with Robert Morris on Friday, January 4, at 3 p.m. at the TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden, Conn
