Quinnipiac scored four second-period goals on the way to a 7-0 exhibition win Saturday against the Cambridge Junior Rivulettes.
Erica Uden Johansson scored twice, part of a four-goal effort from the Bobcats’ top line in a game in which they held a 60-6 advantage in shots on goal.
“Our goal coming into the game was to score more goals than they had shots on goal,” senior captain Regan Boulton said. “I’m pretty proud of the team that we were able to hold them to just six shots on net.”
The Bobcats controlled play from the start scoring their first goal just 1:48 into the first period. A Cambridge line change sparked a three-on-none rush as freshman Nicole Brown took the feed from senior Breann Frykas for a 1-0 lead.
Quinnipiac added a second goal at the other end of the first period when Nicole Kosta roofed a wrister top shelf past Cambridge’s Julia Vandyk.
Vandyk is unlike any goaltender that Quinnipiac, or any college team will see this year — she is just 15 years old.
“She’s going to get better and better,” Cambridge coach Geoff Haddaway said. “She’ll learn to bounce back in the future and today is a great lesson for her to see what it is like to play at this kind of level.”
The first period saw the Bobcats attempt 26 shots, 25 of which were on net, while Cambridge put only one on net.
“We tried to do too much in the first period,” Quinnipiac coach Rick Seeley said. “Then in the second period we kind of settled down and made quick passes and opened things up.”
Just 22 seconds into the middle frame, senior captain Regan Boulton ripped a wrist shot from the center point. Uden Johansson, planted directly in front of Vandyk, tipped the shot five hole for a 3-0 lead.
After a goal from freshman Nicole Connery made it 4-0, junior Brittany Lyons showed off her puck-handling skills.
Amanda Colin fed Lyons in the near corner. Lyons skated to the top of the crease and moved the puck from her forehand to her backhand. Vandyk bit at Lyons’ first move, allowing Lyons to tap home a highlight-reel goal.
“Lyons is great around the net,” Seeley said. “She’s got a great scoring touch and in tight she is hard to stop.”
Not to be outdone, two-thirds of the Bobcats first line along with Connery put on a passing clinic for the team’s sixth goal. Connery started the play in the neutral zone and connected with Babstock at the left circle. Connery came off for the change as Kosta stepped up to the right circle. Babstock found Kosta with a cross-ice pass. Babstock backed off her defender and instead of shooting the puck, Kosta went back to Babstock, who slammed the puck past Vandyk for a 6-0 lead.
Despite the brilliant passing from Kosta and Babstock, Seeley is more excited where the pass came from.
“[Connery] is so smooth with the puck,” he said. “She’s just so confident with the puck and right now she’s going to make some freshman mistakes and hold on to the puck a little too much. … If she evolves in our system I think she going to turn out to be a great player.”
The Bobcats added one more goal in the third period on a power-play goal from Uden Johansson.
Quinnipiac will open its regular season next week with a pair of nonconference games against Mercyhurst.
