February 11, 2013

Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey Receives Two Votes in USCHO.com National Poll; Ranked No. 11 in Pairwise Rankings

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USCHO.com Women's Division I National Poll (Feb. 11, 2013)
 Women's Division I PairWise Rankings

HAMDEN, Conn. – Unbeaten in their last six games and coming off a weekend series sweep of then-No. 4 nationally ranked Cornell and Colgate, the Quinnipiac women's ice hockey team received two votes in the USCHO.com national poll and are ranked 11th in the Pairwise Rankings as announced on Monday, Feb. 11. This marks the first time since Oct. 8, 2012 that the Bobcats (17-9-3, 11-5-2 ECAC Hockey) have received votes in the USCHO.com poll and the No. 11 ranking in the Pairwise is their highest of the season.

The weekend home series began on Friday, Feb. 8 as the Bobcats took on No. 4 Cornell, a team they had never beaten at home and came in riding a seven-game losing streak against the Big Red. Quinnipiac however, wasn't deterred by their recent struggles as the Bobcats dominated Cornell and came away with one of the biggest wins in program history, 4-1, on Friday night. Senior Victoria Vigilanti (Woodbridge, Ontario) played one of her best games of the season, limiting the third-highest scoring offense in the country to one goal while making 32 saves in net. The nation's ninth-leading scorer, junior Kelly Babstock (Mississauga, Ontario), led the Bobcat offense with three points (two goals, one assist) including a pair of empty-netters late to seal the victory. The win marked just the second time in program history the Bobcats have beaten a team ranked in the Top Five with the other coming on Nov. 22, 2011 over Boston College, 2-1, in overtime.  The victory was just the fourth ever win over Cornell (4-11-5 overall series history), their first since Nov. 18 2006, and it also put an end to the Cornell's eight-game winning streak.

After Saturday's Senior Day matchup against Colgate was postponed to Sunday, the Bobcats came out and once again dominated play with a 4-1 victory in the last regular season home game for six Quinnipiac seniors. The Bobcats were led by their upperclassmen on the afternoon as four of the seniors registered at least one point while Vigilanti played well once again with 21 saves in goal. Seniors Regan Boulton (two assists), Felica Vieweg (one goal), Kristen Eklund (one assist) and Brittany Lyons (one assist) made the most of their Senior Day game while top scorers Babstock (two goals) and sophomore Nicole Kosta (one goal, one assist) once again led the Bobcat offense. Boulton made a little bit of history on Sunday, passing Vicky Graham '05 for second place on the Bobcats' all-time scoring list as her 75 career points (23 goals, 52 assists) are also the most ever for a Quinnipiac defenseman.

USCHO.COM DIVISION 1 WOMEN'S POLL (FEB. 11, 2013)

Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Week
1. Minnesota (15) 30-0-0 150 1
2. Boston College   21-4-2 134 2
3. Boston University   18-4-3 109 3
4. Cornell   20-5-0 104 4
5. Harvard   17-3-2 82 5
6. Clarkson   23-7-0 76 6
7. Wisconsin   17-9-2 50 8
8. North Dakota   20-10-0 49 9
9. Mercyhurst   22-6-1 43 7
10. Northeastern   15-10-2 17 NR

Others receiving votes: Minnesota-Duluth 8, Quinnipiac 2. 

Women's Division I PairWise Rankings

Rank Team PWR W-L-T Win % Win % Rank   RPI RPI Rank vs. TUC TUC %
1 Minnesota 11 30-0-0 1.000 1 .7310 1 12-0-0 1.000
2 Boston College 10 21-4-2 .8148 4 .6353 2 10-3-1 .7500
3 Boston University 9 18-4-3 .7800 6 .6173 3 6-3-3 .6250
4 Cornell 8 20-5-0 .8000 5 .6167 4 5-5-0 .5000
5 Harvard 7 17-3-2 .8182 3 .6108 5 4-3-0 .5714
6 Clarkson 6 23-7-0 .7667 8 .5943 6 5-5-0 .5000
7 Mercyhurst 5 22-6-1 .7759 7 .5770 7 3-3-1 .5000
8 North Dakota 4 20-10-0 .6667 9 .5676 8 4-8-0 .3333
9 Wisconsin 3 17-9-2 .6429 10 .5675 9 3-7-0 .3000
10 Minnesota-Duluth 2 14-11-3 .5536 17 .5488 10 3-7-2 .3333
11 Quinnipiac 1 17-9-3 .6379 11 .5464 11 1-6-1 .1875
12 Northeastern 0 15-10-2 .5962 14 .5462 12 2-8-0 .2000

 

The next weekend series will go a long way in deciding the Bobcats' chances of gaining home ice in the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals. Quinnipiac takes on St. Lawrence, who are currently tied with the Bobcats for fourth place in the ECAC Hockey points standings, on Friday from Canton, N.Y. The matchup will be a rematch from earlier this season as Quinnipiac took down the Saints, 6-4, from High Point Solutions Arena. With the win, the Bobcats would hold the tiebreaker over St. Lawrence as well as gain two points on them in the standings. Saturday's game features another ranked opponent as the Bobcats will take on No. 6 Clarkson from Potsdam, N.Y. at 4:00 pm.

Contact: Maxx McNall; maxx.mcnall@quinnipiac.edu