HAMDEN, Conn. – Despite a season-high 46 shots on goal, the No. 5 Colgate women's hockey team fell to Quinnipiac 5-3 Saturday afternoon in the final game of the regular season. Although they notched a pair of third period goals to narrow it to a one goal game, the Raiders are now 13-6-1 overall and 8-4-0 in ECAC Hockey play with the loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first period was incredibly fast paced as almost no whistles were blown throughout the frame. At the 14:24 mark, the Bobcats got on the board for the first time to take a 1-0 lead and ended the period outshooting the Raiders 9-7.
The Raiders continued to try and cause chaos in the defensive zone as the second period started, but two Quinnipiac goals not even two minutes apart saw the Raiders down 3-0 at the halfway mark of the period. Colgate had two power play opportunities in the frame that created solid offensive momentum, but the Raiders could not land any shots in the back of the net.
A fourth Quinnipiac goal came as the Raiders faced their second penalty kill of the night, but sophomore
Sammy Smigliani notched her sixth goal of the season with just under two minutes left in the period to make it a 4-1 game. The Raiders outshot Quinnipiac 16-7 in the second period, giving Colgate solid momentum headed into the final 20 minutes.
Colgate started the third period with two back-to-back power plays but were unable to get another score on the board despite tallying several great shots on goal during both advantages. With 3:50 remaining in the period, Colgate opted for an extra skater and with 1:46 left in the game, sophomore
Danielle Serdachny scored after causing a turnover to cut the Quinnipiac lead to 4-2.
Just over a minute later, Serdachny struck once again and scored from the top of the right faceoff zone to make it a 4-3 game with 37 seconds remaining.
Still skating with the 6-on-5 advantage, the Raiders tried to notch one more goal to tie it up, but Quinnipiac scored an empty-netter with 13 seconds left to make the final score 5-3. Colgate finished the game outshooting Quinnipiac 46-22.
COLGATE SCORING PLAYS
• Period 2 | 18:39 Junior
Noemi Neubauerova brought the puck from behind the net to junior
Taylor Kirwan at the top of the left faceoff zone who passed it to sophomore
Sammy Smigliani in the slot, who scored by chipping it in with her extended stick.
• Period 3 | 18:14 Sophomore
Danielle Serdachny caused a turnover and immediately sliced the shot in through the lower left corner of the net.
• Period 3 | 19:23 Serdachny received a pass from sophomore
Kaitlyn O'Donohoe near the blue line and scored from the top edge of the right faceoff zone as the puck snuck in just below the crossbar.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Sophomore
Danielle Serdachny recorded her second multi-point performance of the weekend behind a pair of goals off of a career-high of 11 shots on goal. It marks the fourth multi-goal game of her career and second of the season, while she extends to a three-game point streak.
• The Raiders recorded a season-high 46 shots on goal, beating the previous best of 38 against Clarkson on Nov. 30, 2020. It also marked the most shots on goal since tallying 49 against RPI (Feb. 22, 2020).
• Recording her fifth goal over the last five games was
Sammy Smigliani. Through the month of February, Smigliani notched eight total points through the last six games.
• With apples,
Allyson Simpson and
Kaitlyn O'Donohoe join Serdachny on the three-game point streak.
• Between the pipes, first-year netminder
Kayle Osborne recorded 17 saves, including eight in the first period.
• Junior
Delani MacKay won a team-high 80 percent of faceoffs for the Raiders.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Quinnipiac 5, No. 5 Colgate 3
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate holds a 13-6-1 record and is 8-4-0 in ECAC Hockey play.
• Quinnipiac is 10-5-0 overall with a conference record of 4-5.
UP NEXT
With at least the No. 2 seed or higher, the Raiders will host an ECAC Semifinal on Friday night with an opponent and time yet to be determined after the result of the Clarkson-St. Lawrence series.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate women's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateWIH and Instagram at colgatewih.
