Team Notes: Quinnipiac Travels to Princeton for Quarterfinals Series
ECAC Hockey Playoffs
The No. 5-seeded Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team
(20-11-3, 12-9-1 ECAC Hockey) travels to face No. 4 seeded
Princeton (16-12-1, 13-8-1 ECAC Hockey) this Friday, Feb. 25 at 7
p.m. for the first game in a best-of-three series in the opening
round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Game two is scheduled for a 4
p.m. start time the following Saturday, Feb. 26., while Sunday's
potential meeting would also begin at 4 p.m.
Follow The Bobcats
Live Stats for this weekend's games can be accessed by
clicking on the appropriate links on the women's ice hockey
schedule at www.quinnipiacbobcats.com.
About Princeton University
The Tigers finished the regular season strong with a 4-1
victory over Yale on Saturday, Feb. 19, capping off the season with
its fourth consecutive victory. Dating back to Saturday, Dec. 4,
Princeton is an impressive 13-2. Princeton's offensive leaders all
made significant contributions in the final weekend of the regular
season, as team-leader in points (21) Olivia Mucha netted two goals
against Brown on Friday, Dec. 3, while Sally Butler (nine goals, 10
assists) added a goal and an assist. Freshman forward Denna Laing
(eight goals, 10 assists) also contributed two goals on the
weekend. Junior goaltender Rachel Weber has a 14-8-1 record on the
season, while she holds a 1.79 goals against average and a .930
save percentage.
All-Time Against The Tigers
Friday's game will be the
14th time the two sides will
face each other, with Princeton owning a 1-10-2 all-time series
lead. In their last meeting coming earlier this season on Monday,
Jan. 3, Quinnipiac was defeated 3-0. Princeton's two second period
goals, separated by just 37 seconds quickly gave the Tiger a 2-0
lead and eventual victory. Sophomore goaltender Victoria
Vigilanti (Woodbridge, Ontario) made 16 saves on the
afternoon.
In their first meeting of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 2, Quinnipiac earned its first-ever victory against the Tigers in a 5-2 win. After falling behind 2-0 early in the first period, the Bobcats scored five unanswered goals en route to its first ECAC Hockey victory of the season. Sophomore defender Regan Boulton (Brandon, Manitoba) scored two goals in the contest, while senior forward Kelley Davies (Chesapeake, Va.), freshman forward Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario), and sophomore forward Brittany Lyons (Canton, Mass.) each tallied one goal in the game. Vigilanti played well in goal, making 25 saves on the night.
All-Time Post Season
The weekend series marks the second consecutive season
(and second overall) in which the Bobcats have reached the ECAC
Hockey post-season. In 2010, Quinnipiac went 1-2 in its playoff
stint, falling to Rensselaer in its opening round Quarterfinals
matchup. The Bobcats took the first game of the best-of-three
series on Friday, Feb. 26, as sophomore forward Chelsea
Illchuk's (Lockport, Manitoba) double overtime goal
propelled Quinnipiac to its first-ever playoff victory. After
falling to Rensselaer, 1-0, the following Saturday, Feb. 27,
Quinnipiac and Rensselaer proceeded to play in the second-longest
game in the history of NCAA Division I Ice Hockey on Sunday, Feb.
28. The game, which ended on a goal by Rensselaer forward Alisa
Harrison in the fifth overtime, was the longest women's ice hockey
game since it became an NCAA sport in 2001. Sophomore defender
Bethany Dymarczyk's (Hamden, Conn.) game-tying goal with just 5:22
remaining in the third period would be Quinnipiac's only goal on
the evening. Vigilanti played one of the best games of her career,
earning a career-high 57 saves on the night.
Last Time Out
Quinnipiac finished the 2010-11 regular season with a 3-3
tie against ECAC Hockey opponent Brown on Saturday, Feb. 19. After
falling behind 2-0, Quinnipiac junior defender Bethany
Dymarczyk slapped home her fourth goal of the season at
the 4:55 mark into the second period. Following a Brown goal at the
9:24 mark into the second period, freshman forward Elena
Orlando (Chico, Calif.) knocked in her second goal of
the season at the 13:37 mark to bring the score to 3-2. The Bobcats
then evened the score, 3-3, on a powerful slap shot by sophomore
defender Regan
Boulton (Brandon, Manitoba) with just under four minutes
to play in the third period. Sophomore goaltender Victoria
Vigilanti turned away 25 shots in the game.
ECAC Hockey/MLX Skates Top Three
Head coach Rick
Seeley has been named one of the three finalists for the
2011 ECAC Hockey/MLX Skates Coach of the Year. Seeley has led the
2010-11 Bobcats to program records in both overall wins (20) and
conference wins (12). Last season, Seeley was awarded with ECAC
Hockey/MLX Skates Coach of the Year after leading his team to a
then program-record 19 overall wins and 11 ECAC Hockey victories.
Quinnipiac's 16 win improvement from its 3-win season in 2008-9 was
the greatest turnaround in college hockey history. Seeley is
accompanied by fellow head coaches Doug Derraugh (Cornell) and Mark
Hudak (Dartmouth) as the three finalists for this year's
award.
Patty Kaz Nomination
Freshman forward Kelly
Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario) has been named one of
the 26 nominees for this year's 2011 Patty Kazmaier Memorial
Award, presented by Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Babstock is one of just two freshman nominated and is one of six
skaters chosen from ECAC Hockey. On the season, Babstock leads all
NCAA freshmen, as well as all of ECAC Hockey, in goals (29),
assists (26) and points (55). She ranks tied for first in the
country with nine game-winning goals.
California Dreaming
Freshman forward Elena
Orlando (Chico, Calif.) collected a goal and an assist
on Saturday, Feb. 19 against Brown. This marked the only the second
multipoint game of her career, with the last one coming on Friday,
Dec. 3, ironically against Brown. She now has two goals and six
assists on the season.
Local Flavor
Junior defender Bethany
Dymarczyk (Hamden, Conn.) netted a goal and an assist on
Saturday against Brown. The goal was her fourth of the year, while
the assist was her 18th.
Dymarczyk now ranks second on the team in assists and fourth
overall in points (21).
Blast Off
Sophomore defender Regan
Boulton (Brandon, Manitoba) cranked her ninth goal of
the season on Saturday against Brown (the game-tying tally) with
just under four minutes remaining in the contest on a wicked slap
shot from the point. The goal for Boulton was her first score since
Saturday, Jan. 21st against
Wayne State. She now ranks tied for fourth on the team in goals
scored and sixth on the squad in overall points (16).
Streak To 10
Saturday's game marked the
10th straight game in which
Quinnipiac's penalty-kill unit prevented the opposition from
scoring on its extra skater advantage. During that time span which
dates back to Saturday, Jan. 22, teams have gone 0 for 28 against
the Bobcats. On the season overall, Quinnipiac has an 90.1 percent
penalty-kill success rate and has allowed only 11 power play goals
against.
