Team Notes: Bobcats Battle Tigers in Home-and-Home Series
Bobcats Matchup With Tigers
The Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team (11-7-1) (7-2-1
ECAC Hockey) faces ECAC Hockey opponent Princeton (6-7-1) (5-4-1
ECAC Hockey) on consecutive days this coming Friday, Dec. 9 and
Saturday, Dec. 10. Friday evening's game in Princeton, N.J. is set
for a 7 p.m. start, while Saturday's home contest in Hamden, Conn.
will begin at 4 p.m.
Multimedia
Live stats, audio and video for this weekend's games can
be accessed by visiting the Official Website of Quinnipiac
Athletics, www.QuinnipiacBobcats.com.
About Princeton
The Tigers are coming off their second straight victory
following a 3-0 shutout win over Brown on Saturday, Dec. 3.
Freshman Brianne Mahoney, sophomore Sally Butler and junior Alex
Kinney each scored for the Tigers, while senior Rachel Weber made
21 saves in goal. Overall, Butler leads the squad with 14 points on
seven goals and seven assists, followed by sophomore Denna Laing's
13 points (six goals, seven assists) and sophomore Olivia Mucha's
10 points (four goals, six assists). Weber has accumulated a 2.22
goals against average to go along with a .923 save percentage in
goal for the Tigers.
All-Time Against The Tigers
This weekend's games will be the
16th and
17th time the two sides have
faced each other. Last season, Quinnipiac defeated Princeton three
times, including twice during the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals, after
winning its first game against the Tigers earlier in the season on
November 2, 2010. In their last meeting, the Bobcats shutout
Princeton, 2-0, on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011 to take the second game
in the best-of-three playoff series, earning the program's
first-ever playoff series victory. Freshman forward Kelly
Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario) scored the Bobcats'
first goal of the game early in the second period, before fellow
freshman forward Erica
Uden Johansson (Sundsvall, Sweden) scored an empty net
goal to seal the victory with just 16 seconds remaining in the
third period of play. Sophomore goaltender Victoria
Vigilanti (Woodbridge, Ontario) made 18 saves in net for
her ninth shutout of the season.
Last Time Out
Quinnipiac came back to defeat Yale in overtime, 3-2, on
Saturday, Dec. 3 at Ingalls Rink. Senior forward Chelsea
Illchuk (Lockport, Manitoba) contributed an assist on
the game tying goal with 4:58 remaining in regulation, before
tipping in the game-winning tally in overtime to give the Bobcats
their fifth straight victory. Sophomore forward Erica Uden
Johansson scored the Bobcats' first goal, while junior defender Regan
Boulton (Brandon, Manitoba) scored her third goal of the
season in the waning minutes of the third period of play. Freshman
goaltender Chelsea
Laden (Lakeville, Minn.) turned away 19 shots in goal
for Quinnipiac.
Comeback Kids
Saturday's win marked the first time all season that the
Bobcats won a game in which it entered the third period trailing
their opponent (trailed 2-1 heading into the third period of
action). On two separate occasions, Quinnipiac came back to tie the
score on Saturday against Yale, eventually taking its first lead of
the game with the game-winning goal in overtime.
Just Keep Winning
Quinnipiac, which extended its season-best winning streak
to five games with two wins over the weekend against Brown and
Yale, now holds the second-longest unbeaten streak among all NCAA
Division I women's ice hockey teams. Quinnipiac is currently 7-1-0
in its last eight games and 10-2-1 in its last 13 games
played.
Under Pressure
Quinnipiac is 5-2 in games decided by one goal; three of
those one-goal wins have come during its current five-game winning
streak.
Road Warriors
Quinnipiac is an impressive 7-4-0 on the road (and 1-0-0
on neutral sites) this season. The Bobcats won an all-time
program-best 11 road games during the 2010-11
season.
The More The Merrier
Quinnipiac is now 5-1-0 when scoring exactly three goals
in a game, and is 8-2-0 when scoring three or more goals in a
contest.
Can't Knock The Hustle
Senior forward Chelsea Illchuk provided the necessary
spark for Quinnipiac on Saturday against Yale, tallying two points,
including her first game-winning goal of her career. Illchuk kept
the puck alive during a delayed penalty against Yale, leading to
her assist on the team's game-tying goal with just 4:58 remaining
in regulation. She then helped her own cause on the game-winning
goal, as she won the faceoff in Yale's defensive zone moments
before tipping in the overtime winner.
Top-10 For Vigilanti
Junior goaltender Victoria Vigilanti turned in her fourth
shutout of the season on Friday, Dec. 2 against Brown in the team's
3-0 win. The shutout mark's Vigilanti's
18th career clean-sheet and
moves her into a tie for ninth place all-time among NCAA Division I
women's ice hockey goaltenders.
Deciding Goals
Babstock's game-winning goal on Friday, Dec. 2 against
Brown marked her third game-winner of the season, moving her into a
tied for fifth place among all NCAA Division I women's ice hockey
skaters. The goal marks Babstock's
10th career game-winning
goal.
Back Line Scoring
Quinnipiac senior defenders Bethany
Dymarczyk (Hamden, Conn.), Melissa
Perry (Chelsea, Mich.) and junior defender Regan Boulton
(Brandon, Manitoba) combined to factor in on five of the team's six
goals over the weekend against Brown and Yale. Boulton grabbed
three points (one goal, two assists) on the weekend, while
Dymarczyk added two points (one goal, one assists) and Perry
tallied one assist.
Seeley's
200th
With the win on Saturday, Nov. 26 against
Robert Morris, head coach Rick Seeley earned his
200th career head coaching
victory. Seeley currently ranks
13th in wins among all active
women's ice hockey coaches, and is
20th on the list of all-time
winningest women's ice hockey coaches. 55 of Seeley's wins have
come with Quinnipiac, including a single-season program-high 22 of
which came last year.
MVP
With one goal and three assists over the weekend against
Connecticut and Robert Morris, Kelly Babstock earned Nutmeg Classic
Tournament MVP honors. She currently leads the squad with 11 goals
and is tied for the team lead (with Kosta) with 12 assists.
Babstock is also atop the leader board among all ECAC Hockey
skaters, ranking third in points, tied for third in goals and tied
for fourth in assists.
Quinnipiac Recognition
For her outstanding efforts in the month of November,
Babstock was named Quinnipiac University Female Athlete of the
Month. She garnered a team-high 15 points during the month, on six
goals and nine assists. This marks the fourth Athlete of the Month
honors for Babstock, who earned such recognition last season in
November, December and February.
Another Record In The Books
With two assists in Saturday's game against Robert
Morris, Babstock became the all-time program leader in career
assists, giving her 41 helpers overall. Earlier this season,
Babstock became the all-time program leader in career points, when
she collected a team-high four points on Friday, Nov. 18 against
Colgate.
ECAC Hockey Rookie Of The Week
Freshman goaltender Chelsea Laden (Lakeville, Minn.) was
named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week following her first-career
victory on Tuesday, Nov. 22 against No. 4 Boston College. Laden
kept the Eagles scoreless through nearly 58 minutes of action and
made a key save in overtime leading up to the Bobcats game-winning
score during the 2-1 overtime victory.
Quality Over Quantity
Tuesday, Nov. 22nd
win over No. 4 Boston College marked the first time all
season in which the Bobcats defeated an opponent when they were
outshot. Boston College held a 34-to-18 shot advantage
overall.
Final Minute Magic
Babstock's goal against No. 4 Boston College with 10
seconds remaining in regulation was the latest goal scored for the
Bobcats in a single period this season. The last time a Quinnipiac
skater tied the score in the final minute of regulation came on
November 21, 2009, when Janine Duffy tied the score, 3-3, with 21
seconds lefts to play against Cornell.
New All-Time Points Leader
Sophomore forward Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario)
became the Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team's all-time
points leader with four points (two goals, two assists) in the
team's 6-2 win on Friday, Nov. 18 against Colgate. Babstock's
game-winning goal in the second period of play doubled as her
74th career point, passing
Quinnipiac's previous all-time points leader, Vicki Graham, who
finished her career in 2007 with 73 career points. Babstock, who
surpassed Graham in just her 50th
career game played, leads the team with 18 points (nine
goals, nine assists) on the season.
Contact: Ross Bennett; rsbennett
