On Saturday afternoon, Quinnipiac defeated McGill, 4-1, in an exhibition match. Freshman Kristen Tamberg led the way for the Bobcats with a goal and an assist.
“I thought we moved the puck really well and I thought we worked pretty hard,” Quinnipiac coach Rick Seeley said. “We have to get a little tighter on the system stuff, but I thought the effort was great.”
The Bobcats haven’t played since Dec. 8, when they defeated Princeton, 4-0. The long rest did not seem to bother Quinnipiac, as it scored three goals in the first period.
Quinnipiac jumped on the board first just 6:03 into the opening period when Tamberg wristed a shot on net that got tipped in the slot. Nicole Kosta quickly took the puck and backhanded it top shelf past McGill’s Taylor Salisbury for the 1-0 lead.
The Bobcats added to their lead later in the first on a typical Kelly Babstock tally. Nicole Brown fed Babstock in the neutral zone on the far side. Babstock gained the line, where she deked left and worked the puck back to her forehand. As she entered the right circle, she sniped a shot that caught the left post and deflected into the back of the net.
Two minutes later, Quinnipiac made it 3-0 on a Cydney Roesler power-play goal. Brown’s shot from the right circle was deflected to the point. Roesler grabbed the puck and blasted a shot from the point off the post and behind Salisbury.
McGill added a goal of its own on a power play with just 2:50 left in the first period. McGill cycled the puck from the far side back over to the right circle. Kelsey Moffatt fed the puck to Katia Clement-Heydra, who ripped the shot past Victoria Vigilanti to cut Quinnipiac’s lead to 3-1.
After playing Yale University last night, McGill was forced to hit the ice again on short rest.
“The pace was quicker today than last night,” McGill coach Peter Smith said. “The first 10 minutes hurt us because we didn’t really adjust like we should have. We want to set the tempo and we want to play to that tempo. That’s what sets teams apart.”
The Bobcats regained their three-goal lead 1:05 into the second period. Shelby Wignall tapped the puck to Tamberg at the left point, and she slid the puck through traffic and inside the left post for the 4-1 lead.
“They’ve been awesome,” Seeley said about Tamberg and Roesler. “Pretty much from day one they’ve adjusted and they have been two of our most consistent defensemen. Their intensity is great, they battle, and as freshmen defensemen they’ve been great for us.”
