HAMDEN, Conn. — Quinnipiac tied a program record with six goals in the second period en route to an 8-0 victory over the Rochester Institute of Technology at the High Point Solutions Arena on Friday night.
It was the most goals since the Bobcats (11-2-5, 3-2-4 ECAC) scored six goals in the second period against Union on Jan. 16, 2009.
“I thought we focused on the offensive details a little more than we have recently, really working to jam up in front of the net, really working hard on loose pucks and making the right spots for rebounds,” Quinnipiac coach Rick Seeley said.
Shiann Darkangelo recorded a hat trick and had five points in the game, while Kelly Babstock had one goal and four assists, with the assists tying her program record for assists in a game which she had done twice before Friday night.
Sydney Rossman recorded her first career shutout in just her second career start by stopping all 25 shots she faced.
“I saw a lot of confidence [and after] we gave up a couple opportunities early, it could have been a different game if they score one or two of those while it was still scoreless,” Seeley said. “[Rossman] looked confident, she was coming out attacking the puck and there wasn’t one shaky play all game, so she was solid start to finish.”
Despite the lopsided loss, the Tigers (8-7-1, 4-1-1 CHA) were narrowly outshot by the Bobcats 29-25 in the game.
“I thought early on that first power play we had we were moving around and we had a couple good chances and their goalie came up big and made some saves,” RIT coach Scott McDonald said. “I thought that was a definite turning point early in the game where we missed our opportunities and they come right down and make the most of their one opportunity in the first period. It’s a 1-0 period for them instead of a 1-0 period for us.”
Quinnipiac started the scoring in the first period when Darkangelo got the puck back after having it stripped away by RIT’s Morgan Scoyne and tucked it in a wide open left side of the net with the Tigers’ goaltender Brooke Stoddart out of position.
The Bobcats took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission and then exploded in the second period to secure the victory.
“I think our guys just woke up a bit,” said Seeley. “Bottom line is it was still pretty even based on shots, but more than just questionable goaltending, I thought we did a great job of scoring.”
Meghan Turner gave the Bobcats a 2-0 lead just 51 seconds into the second period as she controlled a backhanded pass in the slot from Darkangelo along the right boards and tapped it past Stoddart’s right pad.
Babstock scored 3:20 into the period to give Quinnipiac a 3-0 lead as she skated from the far blue line towards Stoddart in net and was tripped heading to the slot, but regained control of the puck to fire it past Stoddart’s blocker.
The Tigers replaced Stoddart after the Babstock goal, bringing in Jetta Rackleff to take her place.
“When it’s their time to go, they should be ready regardless of their age or class that they’re in,” McDonald said. “They need to be ready to play.”
Darkangelo added her second goal of the game just under two minutes later after Babstock passed her the puck from the left faceoff circle and found a wide-open Darkangelo waiting on the back post to tuck the puck home.
Morgan Fritz-Ward joined the score sheet for the Bobcats when Cydney Roesler wristed a puck on net and Fritz-Ward tipped it at the top of the crease and through Rackleff’s five-hole to make it 5-0.
Kristen Tamberg added to Quinnipiac’s total with a power-play goal to take a 6-0 lead 8:44 into the second period when she received a pass at the point from Anna Borgfeldt in the corner and wristed the shot off the crossbar and past Rackleff.
Quinnipiac took a 7-0 lead with 4:19 remaining in the second period as Fritz-Ward scored her second goal of the game when she collected a loose puck on the right side of the end line after Amanda Colin lost the puck in the slot and tapped the puck past a sprawling Rackleff.
Darkangelo completed the hat trick with 5:46 remaining in the third period when Babstock centered the puck from the left faceoff dot to Darkangelo in the slot, who deflected the puck over Rackleff’s glove and into the roof of the net to make it 8-0.
“We just have to come out and be ready to play some defense,” McDonald said. “One of the main goals we have is limiting opportunities in front of the net because they are bigger and stronger and we just didn’t do it.”
