HAMDEN, Conn. - The Wayne State University women’s hockey team (8-10-3) lost for the first time in program history to Quinnipiac University (12-7-6),
2-1, on Friday afternoon at the TD Bank Sports Center.
The Bobcats nearly tripled the shot output of the Warriors, 44-16, to win their fifth straight game, all of which were one-goal decisions. Wayne State is 10-1-1 all-time against QU in the series which dates back to 2004.
The 44 shots allowed was the highest total since Mercyhurst finished with 56 shots in a 5-4 WSU victory on Feb. 8, 2008, while sophomore goaltender
Delayne Brian’s (Winnipeg, Man./Notre Dame Hounds) career-high 42 saves were the most since Valery Turcotte’s 52 in that game.
Quinnipiac scored both goals within an 11-second span in the second period. Sophomore defenseman
Ciara Lee (Toronto, Ont./Etobicoke Jr. Dolphins) netted her first collegiate goal at 7:09 of the third, but WSU could not find the equalizer.
On the ensuing faceoff following Kelley Davies’ goal at the 4:05 mark of the second, Janine Duffy pulled the puck over to Jordan Elkins, who sent it up to Kallie Flor. The pass from Flor came back to Duffy who fired it in on Brian (5-4-2) at 4:11.
It was a momentary lapse in an otherwise strong performance from Brian, who collected 17 saves in the third period to keep the Warriors’ hopes for a victory alive.
Micheline Frappier (Val Caron, Ont./Sudbury Lady Wolves) won a key faceoff in the offensive zone, deflecting it back to Lee in the high slot. Lee’s shot sailed into the upper right corner of the goal past Victoria Vigilanti (11-7-6) for the only blemish on Vigilanti’s 15-save day.
Brian was pulled for an extra skater with 41 seconds remaining, but the effort was to no avail. Sophomore blueliner
Jill Szandzik (Warren, Mich./Little Caesars) did come up with a key block on Duffy in the final 30 seconds, however, to keep it a one-goal game.
Faceoff for Saturday’s rematch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET.
NOTES
Wayne State did not have a single power-play opportunity, the first such occurrence since Jan. 14, 2006 at Mercyhurst … Lee has three career points (two assists last season) … Frappier has assists in back-to-back games … WSU is 5-6-2 on the road this year.