Quinnipiac scored three third period goals for a comeback 6-4 win over St. Lawrence on Saturday. It was a wild, back and forth game that saw the Bobcats hold three one-goal leads before the Saints took a 4-3 lead just 1:41 into the third.
“We want to build on every game, and this weekend we outshot both teams by a lot and we controlled the games by a lot,” Quinnipiac coach Rick Seeley said. “It’s just building that belief that we can beat anyone.”
St. Lawrence trailed, 3-2, entering the third period until Brooke Fernandez’s drive from the left point beat Quinnipiac’s Victoria Vigilanti just 21 seconds into the final period.
The Saints took their first lead of the game just 1:20 later on Kayla Raniwsky’s second goal the season. Vigilanti stopped a shot from the left circle, but could not control the rebound. Raniwsky raced to the net and tapped the puck past Vigilanti for the one-goal lead.
St. Lawrence coach Chris Wells knew that his team had the ability to come back in the third, but was surprised at how quickly it happened.
“I told them that we’re 17 and a half minutes ahead of where we were last season [against Quinnipiac] and that there was plenty of time left. I certainly wasn’t expecting to get two goals on the first two shifts,”
The Bobcats answered back 6:29 into the third period on Breann Frykas’s second goal of the season. Brittany Lyons took a shot at the left circle that Carmen MacDonald tried to glove down. MacDonald could not hold on as Frykas put the backhander into the back of the net.
Erica Uden Johansson put the Bobcats ahead for good with 6:18 remaining in regulation. After Kelly Sabatine went to the box for a body check, the Bobcats went on the advantage. Cydney Roesler tried to connect with Uden Johansson through the neutral zone, but the pass went under Uden Johansson’s stick. The Saints defense turned it over back onto Uden Johansson’s stick, where she recovered and beat MacDonald top shelf.
After the game Uden Johnasson agreed with Seeley that there is a great mentality developing for the Bobcats.
“We have a great mindset that no matter what the scoreboard says, we are still going to work the whole 60 minutes,” Uden Johansson said.
Quinnipiac added one more just 68 seconds later. This time, Nicole Connery and Brittany Lyons raced into the Saints’ end on a two-on-one. Instead of passing the puck, Connery rocketed a shot into the top left corner of the net for the 6-4 lead.
“I hope this teaches them that no matter who we play, to have no fear; I was really proud of the way we responded after giving up two in the first few minutes of the third,” Seeley said.
Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence combined for 20 shots and five goals in the third period.
“Entering that third period it was like the ‘Wild, Wild West’ —- last shot wins. It was crazy down there tonight,” Wells said.
St. Lawrence is back on the road tomorrow for its third game in three days when it travels to Connecticut. The Bobcats return to action on Tuesday when they travel to New Hampshire for a nonconference game against UNH.
