Yale gets the best of Quinnipiac in a battle of two of the nation’s top women’s hockey programs
Yale came down the road ready for a fast game, a grueling game. Two of the best teams in women’s hockey, located just a few miles apart, put on quite an entertaining show.
“This is a great hockey team we just played,” said Yale coach Mark Bolding, after the Bulldogs’ 4-2 win Saturday before 1,297 at M&T Bank Arena. “We knew it would be a battle. We feel very happy, but also very fortunate we got off to a good start.”
One of the youngest and smallest players on the ice, Yale first-year winger Carina DiAntonio, 5 feet 3, had a hand in all the goals, scoring two, but her empty netter with 1:19 left allowed her teammates to smile.
“We’ve been yelling at her a little bit and giving her some problems because she missed some open nets recently,” said senior Claire Dalton, who scored Yale’s first goal.
“Carina’s dynamic, good skater, good edges,” Bolding said. “Thinks the game really well and as fit in quite well with Claire and [Charlotte] Welch. Just reads the play, and I’m always teasing her to shoot the puck more.”
Yale (19-1-1), ranked second in the national polls, kept the pressure on No. 1 Ohio State, which won an overtime game against St. Cloud State, and the Buckeyes have been on the back of minds since last spring, when they eliminated Yale in the NCAA Frozen Four.
“That was like the coolest weekend of my life, going to the Frozen Four last year,” Dalton said. “I think everybody’s hungry for it. The freshmen can feel that among the returners.”
Yale has won 10 in a row, and this was its second win over fourth-ranked Quinnipiac (23-4-0), including a 4-2 win in New Haven on Nov. 3. The Bobcats won all three meeting last year.
“We knew we were coming into a hard game, they’re a really strong team,” DiAntonio said, “and we just came out as hard as we could. I wanted to just shoot the puck, anywhere, and that would create chances for other people, too.”
Women’s hockey is growing, the NCAA Tournament expanding to 11 teams, and Connecticut is an epicenter, with UConn, No. 14, joining Yale and Quinnipiac in the rankings for most of the past two seasons. This game was televised locally in Connect on WCTX.
“We’re all pretty fired up in women’s hockey to see the expansion,” Bolding said. “I don’t know where it’s going to be even in three years. It’s growing and it’s growing fast.”
Bolding, who won two Division III national championships at Norwich before coming to Yale in 2019, has building a powerhouse coming out of the pandemic. The Bulldogs won 17 games, a school record, in his first season, then blew past that mark with 26 wins last season, reaching the Frozen Four before losing to eventual national champ Ohio State.
“We’ve gotten good kids who work hard,” he said. “And they’re buying in to what our message was early, which was do your best and work..”
The games was played at a fast pace, and with only one penalty called, the third and fourth lines had to be used extensively to keep it up, as both teams played on the road Friday. Bulldogs outshot the Bobcats 9-4 in the first period, and cashed in on three dangerous,, even-strength scoring opportunities. Dalton, who has four game-winning goals this season, beat Quinnipiac goalie Logan Angers with a backhand shot 11:42, then Emma Seitz scores from point-blank range from in front of the right circle at 16:21.
“We all just hype each other up,” Dalton said, “and there is just no way we would let each other fail. Everyone’s got each other’s back and we’re not afraid to make mistakes, not playing timid.”
DiAntonio, who had a hand in the first two goals, scored with 43 seconds remaining in the period to give Yale the 3-0 lead, and with Pia Dukaric, who is on the national goalie of the year watch list, figured to be hard to overcome.
Yale killed off a Quinnipiac power play during the scoreless second period, but Quinnipiac, with more victories than any team in D-1, applied pressure in the third. Olivia Mobley scored at 8:15, and Kate Reilly made it a one-goal game at 11:24. Yale had to go back on the attack, putting it away with DiAntonio’s empty-netter with 1:19 left.
“It was an awesome crowd, to see so many people here,” said Quinnipiac coach Cassandra Turner. “To see us and Yale both in the top five in the country, it was a great display of the game, and fun. Momentum shifted in one direction, then the other a bunch of times and that’s th kind of hockey people like to watch. [Yale] is just relentless on the forecheck. They’re all over you and they do a great job of getting their defense into their offense.”
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com
