Quinnipiac Women’s Hockey Push Past Providence with Late Rally

The #8 Quinnipiac Bobcats remain undefeated in non-conference play after a thrilling come from behind victory against the Providence College Friars by a score of 4-1. Quinnipiac trailed 1-0 for the first 45 minutes of the game before the floodgates opened on offense in the third period, netting four goals total (two of which were scored within 43 seconds of each other).

The offense started with Providence in this contest. About midway through the first period, senior forward Lindsey Bochna found freshman forward Audrey Knapp all alone on the doorstep in front of Quinnipiac graduate goaltender Logan Angers. Knapp capitalized on the Bobcat defense’s miscommunication and beat Angers to score the Friars’ first and only goal of the game.

After being outshot 9-7 in the first period and conceding a goal, Quinnipiac leapt to a strong start to the second period. Quinnipiac increased their pressure, outshooting Providence 12-9 in the second frame. However, despite a few chances, the Bobcats were unable to best Friars’ senior goaltender Mireille Kingsley.

The Bobcats were down but not out to start the third period, continuing to apply pressure until they found the back of the net five minutes in with a goal from graduate forward Julia Nearis. Not only would this goal serve as an equalizer for Quinnipiac, but it would also be the spark the Bobcats needed to get the offense rolling.

The next Quinnipiac goal would come just a few minutes later when senior forward Nina Steiguaf fired a shot from a tough angle that caught the top right corner of the net. 

“I saw no one was coming at me and I was quite tired, so I just decided to throw it on net and it hit the corner I wanted to,” said Steigauf when recounting the play. Steigauf also mentioned difficult angle shots was something she had been working on in practice and was happy to see it play out in her favor in a game setting.

The Bobcats would strike again just 43 seconds later when graduate forward Jess Schryver would walk into the slot and rip a shot past the glove of Kingsley to put Quinnipiac up two goals late in the third period.

The Bobcats dominated the third period, tallying as many goals as the Friars had shots with three in the final period. To provide the extra insurance Quinnipiac was looking for, senior graduate forward and captain of the Bobcats Sadie Peart scored an empty-net goal to seal the game. Peart collected her 100th point as a Bobcat on the play, as well.

Quinnipiac will begin conference play next weekend with a home game against Brown and a home game against conference rival Yale. With one of the strongest starts to a season in program history, all eyes are on the Bobcats to see if this could be the next team with national championship aspirations.