Potsdam, NY – Three goals in less than seven minutes didn’t set the tone, but the barrage certainly set the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team in a hole early, as Quinnipiac’s early onslaught was enough to send the Golden Knights to a 4-1 defeat in the first game of the best-of-three games ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal series Friday night in front of 291 fans at Cheel Arena.

The Golden Knights fell to 21-9-5 overall with the loss, only their second defeat in the past nine games, while Quinnipiac extended its winning streak to three games, improving to 18-14-2. The two teams will play again at 4:00 pm on Saturday, with the Bobcats looking to close out the best-of-three games series. If Clarkson wins on Saturday, the two teams will play again at 4:00 pm on Sunday.

In the first seven minutes of the opening period, Quinnipiac would surpass its goal total against the Knights from the previous two games combined, scoring three goals six minutes, 43 seconds after the first drop of the puck. The first goal came on a seemingly harmless shot as Erika Uden Johansson wristed a shot from just inside the blue line. Clarkson goalkeeper Erika Howe (Ottawa, ONT) had the puck tip off the top of her glove and into the top of the net on the floater, giving the Bobcats a 1-0 lead at the 4:05 mark. Bethany Dymarczyk was awarded the assist, having passed the puck up ice from Quinnipiac’s defensive end.

Less than two minutes later, Quinnipiac had another goal after another fluttering shot. Kelly Babstock skated in on the left side and went beyond the end line with a defender on her before backhanding a pass to the circle. There Nicole Kosta had her soft shot turn end over end and over the shoulder and glove of Howe at 5:26, making the score 2-0. Johansson rounded out the scoring with an assist.

The final Quinnipiac goal of the third period came at 6:43, with a more traditional scoring method. Kosta delivered the puck to Babstock in front, where the sophomore took one shot which was initially stopped by Howe. However, Babstock stuck with it and was able to bat the puck in off the rebound.

Clarkson took a timeout to gather itself, but unfortunately for the Knights, the damage was done. Although the Green and Gold played well for the remainder of the period, controlling the play in the Quinnipiac end for the second-half of the period, they were unable to get any solid scoring opportunities.

The second and third periods were much the same, as Clarkson gained the shot advantage and limited Quinnipiac’s chances, but the majority of the Knights’ shots on goal were delivered straight into the midsection of Bobcats’ goaltender Victoria Vigilanti. It wasn’t until late in the third period that the Knights finally got on the scoreboard, thanks to an odd ricochet. Senior defenseman Katelyn Ptolemy (Dinsmore, SASK) sent a shot in from the point and from there the puck deflected off a Quinnipiac player and off the post and over the goal line. Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, ONT) and Danielle Skirrow (Trenton, ONT) each earned assists on the score, which came at 13:56 of the third period.

Looking to capitalize on the momentum, Clarkson pulled Howe from the goal for an extra attacker, but the move backfired. Just a few seconds after Howe left the net, Johansson sent a high pass to Kosta near center ice. Kosta caught the puck and dropped it in front of her stick, where she was able to out race the Clarkson defense and slide in the Bobcats’ fourth goal of the contest.

The two teams finished the game with 26 shots each, while Quinnipiac went 0-for-2 on the power play and Clarkson had no extra-skater chances. Howe made 22 saves, while Vigilanti made 25 stops.