HAMDEN, Conn. — Morgan Fritz-Ward’s two goals powered the No. 10 Quinnipiac Bobcats to a 5-0 win over the Brown Bears. Quinnipiac improves to 18-5-9 (9-4-7 ECAC), while Brown falls to 4-18-5 (3-14-3 ECAC)
The Bobcats offense led the charge throughout the game by moving the puck around the ice, causing Brown’s defense to chase the puck around the zone. Amanda Colin took advantage of the Bobcats’ puck movement and picked up two assists.
“Yesterday I wasn’t that good defensively, so today I didn’t think about shooting the puck on my own,” Colin said. “I thought about using people and getting the puck to people if they were open.”
Freshman Sydney Rossman picked up her first career shutout, turning away all 19 shots Brown sent her way. Quinnipiac’s defense helped out their freshman netminder, limiting the second-chance opportunities Brown got.
“There were a couple where I had to make the first save, then they had sticks all over so there were no second chances and there were a lot of blocked shots,” Rossman said. “Without them, it might have not been a shutout.”
Kelly Babstock gave the Bobcats a 1-0 lead halfway through the first period after Hunter Davis turned the puck over in Brown’s zone. Babstock deked around Brown’s goalie Aubree Moore for her 17th goal of the season and 196th career point.
Meghan Turner added to the Quinnipiac lead late in the first after Shelby Wignall fed Colin on the near side of the net. Colin one-timed a pass to a cutting Turner, who buried the Bobcats’ second goal of the game.
Colin’s ice vision paid off for Quinnipiac again in the second period. After receiving a pass from Lindsey West, Colin fed the puck to Fritz-Ward on the far faceoff circle, who beat Moore for Quinnipiac’s third goal on the afternoon.
Fritz-Ward picked up her second goal in the third period on a scramble in front of the net, poking the puck past the line in a similar spot to Turner’s goal in the first period.
Freshman Emma Woods picked up her 11th goal of the season off Shiann Darkangelo’s feed from center ice. Woods went top shelf over Moore’s right shoulder
“It’s about getting more shots to the net, more traffic,” said Quinnipiac coach Rick Seeley. “Not specifically for Aubree (Moore), just in general. This half we’ve attacked the net a lot more. We got two or three goals out of that attack.”
Brown’s offense was stagnant all game long, especially on the power play. as the Bears went 0-for-4 on the man advantage.
“We fought ourselves tonight,” said Brown coach Amy Bourbeau. “We had trouble moving the puck. The Bobcats played with speed, so we had to do things quickly and we weren’t quick tonight. That was a problem overall, but especially on the power play.”
Quinnipiac’s seniors led the way on Senior Day, with three Bobcats picking up points, and Ashley Winslow saw the first action of her career in what could be her last home game. The senior leadership of the Bobcats will be something the team needs to lean on as they look to make a run in the ECAC playoffs.
“Having the leadership and experience under our belt is second to none,” Colin said. “The closeness and amount of care we have; there isn’t one person on our team, not just the seniors, that doesn’t care. For the younger players to be able to look up to us and know how much we’re committed, how much we care, and how much we love each other as a group is something you can’t teach and is something that will excel us through playoffs.”
