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HAMDEN — Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey defeated the Brown Bears Friday night at home 6-3 in the first game of the ECAC Quarterfinals.
The Bobcats’ first matchup in the 2026 ECAC Tournament proved to be a promising one, with Quinnipiac’s stars once again leading the way. The key: sticking to the formula that powered the Bobcats to a 24-7-3 regular season record.
“We want to be sure that we’re continuing to be on the attack and playing to our identity as much as we can,” head coach Cass Turner said.
From the opening period, the Bobcats were playing to that identity. Quinnipiac, only a game removed from its 5-2 victory over Brown on Feb. 13, put quick pressure on the Bears, opening up passing lanes to spring offensive chances.
“We have a lot of speed in the forward end, and we knew that we could beat them if we just dropped the shoulder and drive to the net,” freshman winger Ella Johnson said.
Halfway through the first, Quinnipiac would put that scouting report into practice. All-ECAC First Team forward, junior Kahlen Lamarche dropped her shoulder to deke past every Bear on the ice. Even junior goaltender Rory Edwards was no match for Lamarche, who held onto the puck long enough to get the goaltender off her feet and finish on the open net.
The score would stand at 1-0 for the remainder of the first, but the structure for what the team needed to win was clear. Quick passes, limited turnovers and exploiting the weaker Brown defense remained the key to keeping the Bears off the board.
The other key?
Consistent Quinnipiac bright spot and birthday girl, sophomore goaltender Felicia Frank.
“She really kept us solid today and in a good position,” Turner said.
The ECAC Goaltender of the Year’s performance would remain a bright spot for the Bobcat side for the majority of the contest. As Brown began to settle in and the quality of its chances increased, Frank made the impossible saves possible, securing an 11 save opening period.
Even with Quinnipiac’s stars stepping up for the playoffs, winning the ECAC starts with having multiple lines that can consistently find the back of the net and keeping the offensive looks fresh.
For Turner, that meant running an entirely new second line: Johnson and sophomore forwards Taylor Brueske and Avery Bairos.
“Going into the game, we knew we needed to contribute being one of the top lines,” Johnson said.
Thirty-nine seconds into the middle period, the Alaska native would make that contribution.
Once again capitalizing by driving forward to the net, Johnson dragged both Brown defenders to the far post, as well as the attention of Edwards. With the entire Brown team focused on one end, she squeezed a near-impossible pass to an open Brueske, setting Quinnipiac up for its second chance on a completely open net.
After that score, the game appeared to be a game of cat and mouse for the Bobcats and Bears, with both offenses trading breakaway chances just for Frank and Edwards to make spectacular stops at either end.
It was an unsustainable back and forth on the offensive end, and it was only a matter of time before one offense would find the back of the net.
Unfortunately for the home squad, it was Brown, slipping a puck past Frank to cut the lead in half.
It was one of two points in the contest where the game had every opportunity to shift in the Bears’ favor. In both cases, the Bobcats answered the call. Twenty-one seconds later the second line would score again, returning the lead to two.
Even a Brown power-play goal with less than a minute left wouldn’t be enough to shake the Bobcats. Coming out of the intermission, Quinnipiac would take the lead right back, with freshman forward Peyton Cormier becoming the fourth goalscorer on the evening.
Another goal from senior forward Emerson Jarvis made it 5-2, the final score from the last contest between the two teams. The score was also the catalyst for Bears head coach Melanie Ruzzi to take drastic measures, pulling Edwards for the extra attacker with over six minutes remaining in the contest.
“I think having an aggressive goalie pull when you’re down that far…makes sense to me,” Turner said.
Although the Bears were able to reconcile a goal, Lamarche would secure her second score of the night with the empty net.
The resounding win is a great step toward a trip to Lake Placid, N.Y., but the Bobcats have to repeat this performance to punch their ticket north. That push starts tomorrow.
“They need to remember it’s not a continuation of the last game,” Turner said. “It’s brand new, it’s fresh, it’s zero zero.”
The Bobcats return to the ice for the second game of the ECAC Quarterfinals tomorrow, taking on Brown at home for the second game of the series. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m.
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